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ysobellehttp://www.londonhotelsandguide.com/gainsborough.html
Sniff.
I'm such an idiot. I'm sitting here crying. The above referenced establishment is where I, as an exchange student in my wild youth, lived for one year.
Of course, back then, it was most emphatically NOT the Gainsborough. It was a seedy, decript old place about on par with a vaguely disreputable youth hostel, and it was called the Queensberry Court Hotel. The carpets were worn, the kitchen was vile, the housekeeper was a sadist, none of the staff spoke English, and the toilet paper was WAX PAPER that read, "Now Wash Your Hands!" Oh, those kooky Brits!
But it was in South Kensington—South Ken—and I was in an impossibly posh neighbourhood. (We even had a tiny private casino on one corner—very high class.) And it was right down the street from the Natural History museum. I could lean out my charming french doors onto my faux balcony and stare at its multicoloured walls. We were in the middle of everything, and I was gloriously happy. My SAD deserted me, no matter what anyone says about how gloomy the winter is there. Oh, it was wonderful. I prowled the city all the time while my classmates did everything they could to seek out all the other American schools’ students and hang with them. I dunno, maybe they weren’t getting their RDA of obnoxious behaviour? AT any rate, by the time I came home, I could take a walking tour in a darkened room with my A to Zed. And I frequently did. Oh, Harrod’s. Oh, the little house in Chelsea where Nick Rhodes used to live. The Boltons. Battersea Power Station. Feet First at Camden Palace—I wonder if that still runs on Tuesday nights? No one blinked an eye when Goth Girl in her crazyfunky eye makeup hopped onto the tube at 10 at night. I didn’t care about going alone anywhere late. I always felt safe there. How can you not in a country where even the police don’t have guns? ("Stop! …Or I’ll say stop again!" Eddie Izzard) Oh, Portobello Road. Oh, the HMV in Leicester Square. Oh, the Night Bus from Trafalgar.
Sniff.
What I need, you see, is a fabulously rich Prince Charming to sweep me off to London for a month. It’s not that I want a Sugar Daddy, it’s just that I’m more than willing to let someone else pick up the tab for my fun just once. I don’t need to make it a habit, and I promise I won’t let it go to my head. Honest!
Sniff.
I'm such an idiot. I'm sitting here crying. The above referenced establishment is where I, as an exchange student in my wild youth, lived for one year.
Of course, back then, it was most emphatically NOT the Gainsborough. It was a seedy, decript old place about on par with a vaguely disreputable youth hostel, and it was called the Queensberry Court Hotel. The carpets were worn, the kitchen was vile, the housekeeper was a sadist, none of the staff spoke English, and the toilet paper was WAX PAPER that read, "Now Wash Your Hands!" Oh, those kooky Brits!
But it was in South Kensington—South Ken—and I was in an impossibly posh neighbourhood. (We even had a tiny private casino on one corner—very high class.) And it was right down the street from the Natural History museum. I could lean out my charming french doors onto my faux balcony and stare at its multicoloured walls. We were in the middle of everything, and I was gloriously happy. My SAD deserted me, no matter what anyone says about how gloomy the winter is there. Oh, it was wonderful. I prowled the city all the time while my classmates did everything they could to seek out all the other American schools’ students and hang with them. I dunno, maybe they weren’t getting their RDA of obnoxious behaviour? AT any rate, by the time I came home, I could take a walking tour in a darkened room with my A to Zed. And I frequently did. Oh, Harrod’s. Oh, the little house in Chelsea where Nick Rhodes used to live. The Boltons. Battersea Power Station. Feet First at Camden Palace—I wonder if that still runs on Tuesday nights? No one blinked an eye when Goth Girl in her crazyfunky eye makeup hopped onto the tube at 10 at night. I didn’t care about going alone anywhere late. I always felt safe there. How can you not in a country where even the police don’t have guns? ("Stop! …Or I’ll say stop again!" Eddie Izzard) Oh, Portobello Road. Oh, the HMV in Leicester Square. Oh, the Night Bus from Trafalgar.
Sniff.
What I need, you see, is a fabulously rich Prince Charming to sweep me off to London for a month. It’s not that I want a Sugar Daddy, it’s just that I’m more than willing to let someone else pick up the tab for my fun just once. I don’t need to make it a habit, and I promise I won’t let it go to my head. Honest!
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Take me too?
Date: 2004-02-21 12:11 am (UTC)Carrie/Shaelyn
no subject
Date: 2004-02-21 04:39 am (UTC)I know a couple of fabulously rich guys in the UK, but they're geeky, and not actually in London....I'll keep my ear out for ya, though.
no subject
Date: 2004-02-21 09:48 am (UTC)Hallelujah.
Oh, and in other news... did you see this (http://www.livejournal.com/users/fumblefactory/200649.html?#cutid1) ?!?! :)))
Safe?
Date: 2004-02-21 12:06 pm (UTC)When guns are outlawed, only the outlaws have guns.
Read this:
http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2003/01/05/do0502.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/01/05/ixnewstop.html
How *can* you feel safe in a country where even the police don't have guns?
Makes me wonder.
no subject
Date: 2004-02-22 02:00 am (UTC)In the first place:
http://www.gun-control-network.org/facts.htm
Gun Death - International Comparisons
Gun deaths per 100,000 population (for the year indicated):
Homicide Suicide Unintentional
USA 4.08 (1999) 6.08 (1999) 0.42 (1999)
Canada 0.54 (1999) 2.65 (1997) 0.15 (1997)
Switzerland 0.50 (1999) 5.78 (1998) -
Scotland 0.12 (1999) 0.27 (1999) -
England/Wales 0.12 (1999/00) 0.22 (1999) 0.01 (1999)
Japan 0.04* (1998) 0.04 (1995) <0.01 (1997)
* Homicide & attempted homicide by handgun
Data collected by Philip Alpers, Harvard Injury Control Research Center, and HELP Network
Additional data can be found in Table A.10 of the World report on violence and health, published by the World Health Organization on 3rd October 2002.
Did you get that? A homicide rate of 4.08 in the US, and .12 in England. That took me all of about two minutes to find. I actually found similar numbers much faster, but without attribution.
And in the second place, don't post in my journal anonymously. If you have something to say to me, have the spine to stand behind what you write and sign your name.
Re:
Date: 2004-02-22 10:11 am (UTC)But it's the last paragraph that says something important about those stats:
---
Meanwhile, America's traditionally high and England and Wales's traditionally low murder rates are remorselessly converging. In 1981, the US rate was nine times higher than the English. By 1995, it was six times. Last year, it was down to 3.5. Given that US statistics, unlike the British ones, include manslaughter and other lesser charges, the real rate is much closer. New York has just recorded the lowest murder rate since the 19th century. I'll bet that in the next two years London's murder rate overtakes it.
---
But hey, I'm not going to come to your Journal to get in your face about this. Although I do think that to TRULY be fair about the issue, you should gather facts not just from the people on your own side. And I don't mean just www.nra-ila.org (The lobbying arm of the NRA), but Jews for the Preservation fo Firearms Ownership ( http://www.jpfo.org/ ) If you're secure in your beliefs, then it should cause you no discomfort to confront yourself with the other side's position.
no subject
Date: 2004-02-22 02:26 pm (UTC)Woot!
Re:
Date: 2004-02-22 02:33 pm (UTC)Ysobelle--sorry if you get a "you're old" vibe from this. I don't mean it that way AT ALL ! My sister has been there A LOT (more times than you can shake a stick at)and even she says it's not as safe as it used to be. It is a fact, however, that England used to be one of the safest countries for travelers.
Cheers!
no subject
Date: 2004-02-22 04:23 pm (UTC)It's okay-- nowhere on earth is as safe as it used to be. But I'm still going to feel safer walking across most of London than I am walking in my own neighbourhood late at night.
Have a wonderful time-- bring me chocolate! And cute Englishmen!
no subject
Date: 2004-02-22 04:25 pm (UTC)No one's ever going to convince me that bringing more guns into England or anywhere else will somehow lower gun deaths. And you know what? I don't want to have that damned debate any more. You know how I feel, I know how you feel, and no one's going to change anyone's opinion in a LiveJournal travelogue thread. Especially not mine, thank you.
and now to gun down a completely different topic
Date: 2004-02-23 11:13 am (UTC)And they can have my guns when they get through the hail of gunfire. But then, as long as the police have guns, I'm going to have guns.
dammmnit. I wasn't going to say anythin about that. Ah well.
Re:
Date: 2004-02-23 02:49 pm (UTC)I didn't come here to pick a fight, or belittle your feelings about the country, to rip on England in general or be a so-called gun-nut.
I was simply bringing up a fact, and a point of view, which is why your journal is open for people to leave comments in the first place.
You don't have to be convinced that having guns in the hands of responsible citizens (and the police for that matter) will make you safer.. but until then, I will also feel better knowing that if someone holds you at knife point in a parking lot, you have the right to defend yourself with a handgun and so does the police officer who hopefully gets there in time, since you choose not to arm and defend yourself.
It wasn't the start of a debate. Sorry if you took it that way. My apologies for anonymously posting - I simply don't have a Live Journal, and therefor can't sign in.
Joshua - Proud to be an American, and a supporter of our second amendment.
no subject
Date: 2004-02-23 05:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-02-23 08:50 pm (UTC)You should get an account. They're free, now, and quite a bit of fun.
Thanks
Date: 2004-02-24 11:44 am (UTC)Like I said, there's no point in arguing over the gun issue. I'm glad I can protect myself and my family to the best of my ability, and I'm glad that the police here can have guns..
You're totally right that the bad guys are the ones that need to be dealt with, but we banned drugs, and who has them? The "bad guys". So banning guns isn't the answer. Maybe someday the world can be 100% gun free, but until then, I'll keep my beretta on me.
If only we could deal with those people so easily. Unfortunately, laws are for the honest people, just like locks. So until we have some better answer, there'll continue to be a problem.
Joshua
no subject
Date: 2004-02-24 11:46 am (UTC)And no, there is no simple answer.