Demographics 1: Long Winters fan locales.

[Liesbeth]

Hey, someone on this poll says they are from sub-saharan Africa.
Now, this I find interesting. Please introduce yourself!

Or is this a protest from our friends in Ireland? Or perhaps a plover or sandpiper which migrates there during long winters.

[Moni]

Or is this a protest from our friends in Ireland? Or perhaps a plover or sandpiper which migrates there during long winters.

Either that or an Irish NightFolder. They do migrate, for sure (secretly, in airplanes).

[John]

I prefer, now, to think of them as Strandlaufers. I'm guessing that roughly translates to "beach loafer"? They are a force unto themselves.

[heather]

i am from sub-saharan africa. it's true.

[AffluentSuburbOfAtlanta]

I prefer, now, to think of them as Strandlaufers. I'm guessing that roughly translates to "beach loafer"? They are a force unto themselves.

beachwalkers, i'm afraid. i like beachloafers, tho, someone should submit that one to the commission of german language (or whatever the body is called)...

but what i really meant to say: grant, your china/ taiwan argument regarding the geopolitical status of poblacht na hEireann to great britain of course doesn't hold up. while i can still only admire your degree of education regarding europe, you're making a fundamental mistake with this one.

china and taiwan are members of one nation (bit like germany used to be until the wall came down) who decided to split into two states for ideological reasons. they share nationality, ethnicity, culture and language. gb and ireland do not share nationality, ethnicity or culture and only share the lingua franca because of the british colonial effort. i therefore strognly advise you to change great britain into british isles in the poll options and then i might actually be able to put my tick somewhere. so there! ha! *g*

:-)

AffluentSuburbOfAtlanta

[Moni]

beachwalkers, i'm afraid

Sorry for torpeding you efforts, but I believe it must be “BeachRunner” (as in “Road-”). Yes.

[AffluentSuburbOfAtlanta]

beachwalkers, i'm afraid

Sorry for torpeding you efforts, but I believe it must be “BeachRunner” (as in “Road-”). Yes.

good point, and good analogy. seeing, however, that laufen can be to walk AND to run beachwalkers does better in complying to my personal linguistic style guidelines. got a good flow to it, y'know... :-) you may now lecture me on mozart operas... ;-)

:-)

AffluentSuburbOfAtlanta

[grant]

i am from sub-saharan africa. it's true.

Really? I think the Long Winters would be well received in Cape Town. Is that where you are? Haven't been there in ages. Most of my relatives there have fled to happier climes, but not all... not all.

[Moni]

good point, and good analogy. seeing, however, that laufen can be to walk AND to run beachwalkers does better in complying to my personal linguistic style guidelines. got a good flow to it, y'know... :-) you may now lecture me on mozart operas... ;-)

Aaah, "laufen" = "walk"... What a German thing to say! Hehe.

Apart from that, having seen lots and lots of Strandläufers in their natural surroundings (usually there’s a whole bunch of them), I can assure you that the term "runner" fits their nature a lot better. And they have such tiny feet. Damn they are cute. They rule.

No Mozart today, Die Entführung had its premiere yesterday (at the Festival That Makes Really Bad Bumper Stickers). I wasn’t there, I went to see something else, and I would like to state that Berlioz’ Grand Mass des Morts is one of the truly superfluous additions to Catholic Church music history. What a sad/loud bastard.

i am from sub-saharan africa. it's true.

Sweet. Well then:
[Dubya]“Do you have black people in your country?”[/Dubya]

[grant]

china and taiwan are members of one nation (bit like germany used to be until the wall came down) who decided to split into two states for ideological reasons. they share nationality, ethnicity, culture and language.

gb and ireland do not share nationality, ethnicity or culture and only share the lingua franca because of the british colonial effort. i therefore strognly advise you to change great britain into british isles in the poll options and then i might actually be able to put my tick somewhere. so there! ha! *g*

Well, this is an interesting proposition. However it is fundamentally moot -- once the first vote is cast, it is impossible to change the wording of the poll questions.

Also, it must be pointed out that Taiwan does have an indigenous population who are more closely related, culturally, to the Indonesians and Polynesians to the south. They are, however, quite subjugated by the Guomindang exiles, who are ethnically identical to their Communist brethren on the mainland, for the most part. So that point stands.

However, it might be worth pointing out that Great Britain does not equal England... and the (thoroughly colonized) Celtic hordes to the north of Hadrian's Wall do share a culture and language with their brethren to the west. Ethnically, they are as similar as the Spanish and the Portuguese. Historically, however, it is my understanding that some of the most feared of the British troops early on in the Unpleasantness were the Black Watch, who wear the Campbell tartan. Look back farther, though, and you will find McGuivers fighting alongside MacIvers against the English. There are also accounts of the close relations between Irish and Scottish lines in the Prophecy of Bechan.

So, from a geographical standpoint, apart from the recent and unfortunate political history, the situation can be quite confusing -- which is why I simply threw my hands up and decided, in effect, "There - they both bask in the trailing end of the balmy Gulf Stream, and on a map I can cover both comfortably with my thumb. Let them rest together, at least here."

I should have included both nations by name, I agree, or at least referred to the Islands of the North Atlantic, or, as you suggest, the British Isles. But my mind is not what it once was. I am, as you have no doubt just noted, prone to wander.

And now, the technology... the technology is not agreeable. It will not amend. Alas.

Perhaps a further, regional or continental poll is in order....

[grant]

O ho! A ha! I spoke too soon!

The changes have been made! Oh, happy day, to learn of such dizzying powers at my behest!!

Thank you, technology!

I think I need a good sit down after all this excitement.

[Liesbeth]

I am, as you have no doubt just noted, prone to wander.

So is your family, literally.
So far we've heard about relatives in Liechtenstein, Capetown and of course Great Uncle Ignatz in Goch.

I hail from the "rough and tumble" city of Everett. WORD.

i am from sub-saharan africa. it's true.

On the risk of being too smart-alec-y, is there a catch here?

As for the Strandlaufer: if this were a poll, I would vote for beach runners.
I get visions of Baywatch (hey, if MacGyver can be discussed here, let's wampus some more).

[Moni]

See that's why I was asking grant if he was some kind of genius. He's starting to scare me out of my socks. And I tend to feel very weird without my socks.

As for the Strandlaufer: if this were a poll, I would vote for beach runners.
I get visions of Baywatch (hey, if MacGyver can be discussed here, let's wampus some more).

Oh my God, I actually wanted to mention BayWatch too, for some weird reason... seems like European minds think alike :)

[grant]

I am, as you have no doubt just noted, prone to wander.

So is your family, literally.
So far we've heard about relatives in Liechtenstein, Capetown and of course Great Uncle Ignatz in Goch.

Well, it's the consequence of having parents who are immigrants, and whose parents were themselves immigrants from elsewhere.

My sainted mother is the offspring of a German aristocrat (second son, and thus practically required to wander) and a hardy Boer farm girl. My father was the produce of British colonialism... born of a Scotsman and his English wife in what is now Kwa-Zulu Natal. My childhood was such as one might expect if Juliet and Romeo had survived to wed, if the Montagues had invented concentration camps to house the Capulets, while the Capulets had bombed the Montague capital to rubble a generation later. America was considered neutral territory, and thus suitable for the fragile business of child rearing.

As for the Strandlaufer: if this were a poll, I would vote for beach runners.

How does "stroller" or "trotter" sound?

[AffluentSuburbOfAtlanta]

why thank you grant! this is very good of you! ;-) even tho you've forgotten the isle of wight, the islays, the shetlands and the orkneys. i'll let you away with the channel islands and the islands off the irish west coast. the channel islands are half french anyway and the ones off the atlantic seaboard are by all means and purposes irish and geologically part of the irish mainland. soooooooo anyway, as you see i cast my vote, what a weight of my chest. *g*

liz - is that an assessment of that particular piece or of berlioz in general? i sense quite a change in opinion there, or is that only me?! do you think you could put in a petition with the crap bumpersticker festival organising comittee regarding the provision of more durable ones? i mean, that sticker looks more wrecked than the car it's on and god knows that's no mean feat! ;-)

regarding the strandlaeufer i'd suggest beachwhizzers, that seems to capture their movements best methinks. and YES, laufen = walk IS very german. so? i'm a proud piefke, HA! you're only jealous cos your country has the shape of a wiener schnitzel! *G*

grant - i want to know your surname now, you seem even more of a heinz 57 than i am, and as white europeans go i pretty much beat the band...

:-)

AffluentSuburbOfAtlanta

[huck]

i'm from, in order:

beaufort, south carolina
portland, oregon
beeville, texas
quantico, virginia
yuma, arizona
iwakuni, japan
newport, rhode island
doylestown, pennsylvania
alexandria, virginia
newport, rhode island, redux

name that branch of the u.s. armed forces!

when asked for a "hometown," i pick newport, rhode island because i did the most mental growing up there. but i've lived in seattle now for about ten years, which takes the record for length-in-same-place.

japan takes the "most money spent on toys and candy" record, as well as "most traumatizing experience" (hiroshima peace park museum, with its life-sized models of people whose skin is dripping off their bodies and pooling onto the pavement below).

virginia takes the "never hated a place as much as i hate this place" record.

the other places are mostly record-neutral. oh no, wait, beeville, texas takes the "most cockroaches and rats i've ever seen in one place" record. and i even lived in the basement of the harvey house for a summer. ;)

[grant]

regarding the strandlaeufer i'd suggest beachwhizzers, that seems to capture their movements best methinks. and YES, laufen = walk IS very german. so?

Apparently, it's also the verb used to describe both downhill and cross-country skiing....

[mildlyrestarted]

i've lived solely in milwaukee/-ish my whole life.
i'm getting very anxious.

[AffluentSuburbOfAtlanta]

regarding the strandlaeufer i'd suggest beachwhizzers, that seems to capture their movements best methinks. and YES, laufen = walk IS very german. so?

Apparently, it's also the verb used to describe both downhill and cross-country skiing....

well, kind of. the full verb would be skilaufen. but when it's obvious that you're talking about skiing anyway, you might skip the ski part and only talk about laufen. that, however, would be a use of the word laufen other people here would be more familiar with than me - as opposed to the laufen=walk thing. it's a matter of dialect really.

Oh yes, and on my way to bed last night beachdasher also struck me as quite appropriate... *g*

:-)

AffluentSuburbOfAtlanta

[heather]

i am from sub-saharan africa. it's true.

Really? I think the Long Winters would be well received in Cape Town. Is that where you are? Haven't been there in ages. Most of my relatives there have fled to happier climes, but not all... not all.

when the long winters played here a riot broke out. 9 camels died.

no joke.