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A Song of Ice and Fire / Other Topics / WORLD TOUR

Back 20 Messages

Ser Gary
User ID: 1523284 Feb 16th 9:56 AM
Because we all come from different parts of the world, this board offers us a unique opportunity in terms of our personal education. Therefore, I though it might be worthwhile for each of us to write something about the area in which we live. Perhaps a paragraph or two. Don't go into great detail. Depending on how this goes, perhaps we could take this to other areas of information in the future. Naturally, I'll go first.

I live in Johnston, Rhode Island, which is in the northeast region of the United States. Johnston is a town of about 30,000 residents located some 7-8 miles west of Rhode Island's capital city of Providence. Rhode Island is noted for being the smallest of America's 50 states, but it is among the leaders in population per square mile. When tourists ask about what to see and do in Rhode Island, they are invariably pointed in the direction of Newport, which is a beautiful and popular seaside resort. For a long time, Newport was home to the America's Cup yacht races and some of this country's most prominent families, including the Vanderbilts and the Astors. Shortly after the turn of the twentieth century, Newport was THE place to be for America's rich and famous. The land is still dotted with huge mansions and picturesque properties. Most have since come under the jurisdiction of the state or some preservation society, for the great depression of the late 1920s definitely took its toll on the upper classes here and they had difficulty maintaining such extravagant lifestyles. Today, tours of some of these premises are offered for a set price, which goes toward offsetting their incredibly high property tax rates.

I didn't really want to focus exclusively on Newport, though. For Providence is where a true renaissance has been taking place. A little more than a decade ago, Rhode Island's capital city was on the brink of collapse. It was literally falling apart. The darker sections of the city were expanding and businesses were leaving in droves. When things looked their absolute bleakest, a concerted effort was made to resuscitate the city -- and it's been working. The downtown area was renovated to make it more "people friendly". Roads were re-routed, as was the Providence River! Dilapidated structures were torn down and replaced by beautiful new ones. The downtown area became truly majestic. They actually now offer gondola rides on the river, and an exhibition called "Waterfires" is held during many months of the year. Basically, canisters lining the center of the river are set ablaze to wondrous effect. There is a huge outdoor skating rink, ala Times Square, and a magnificent new shopping center called "Providence Place Mall" recently opened to rave reviews. Incredibly, Providence still boasts the Arcade, which is the oldest indoor shopping mall in the U.S., dating to the early 1800s. Providence is also home to three world-class institutions of higher education: Brown University, a member of the Ivy League; the R.I. School of Design, regarded as one of the finest graphic arts schools in the world; and Johnson and Wales University, which has a similar reputation with respect to the culinary arts.

Jim
User ID: 9077913 Aug 1st 0:03 AM
All of you guys live in interesting places. I feel rather embarrassed to admit that I live in Valdosta, GA where the only thing that outnumbers the roaches are the rednecks. The water is bad, the traffic is chaotic, the police to citizen ratio is 1 to 10 (I don't have a problem with cops, I'm just not too fond of Valdosta Police) and all they do is harrass college kids like me. But as much as I complain, I do have to admit I have a certain fondness for the dumpy, smelly town.

gad
User ID: 8736803 Aug 1st 4:58 AM
Ants unfortunately the prejudices are nothing as deep as any historical grievances. Basically white South African are jealous of Australians because there are great similarities in our lifestyles, but Australians do not have the taint of apartheid, and now do not have to deal with the scourge of crime. Oh yes, and you beat us in just about everything: Rugby World Cup semi-finals, last ball's of cricket world cup etc, etc.
The prejudices take the form of really bad jokes in which sheep feature prominently (why do Australians like to shag sheep at the edge of a cliff?, for eg)

Lord
User ID: 1871394 Aug 1st 7:21 AM
Good to see some other Australians are about.
I thought all the sheep jokes were directed at the kiwis.
I'm from Newcastle by the way, and I hate to say, Ants, that I have never been to Melbourne. Of course I travel to Sydney at least several times a year to socialise. (Up the Knight this weekend by the way. I'm not really a supporter but I think the Sydney-Melbourne rivally could be extended to Newcastle) My home city has a reputation for being an industrial city, but with the closure of the main steelmaking centre the place is undergoing something of an image metamorphosis (or so I like to believe). Definitely though, Newcastle has a great aspect from the suburbs and the sea, with a beautiful Cathedral dominating the skyline in such a way that I think many small European cities would be envious of.
I have travelled to Europe, but more recently to South-east Asia and South America.
I have a small ISP business which is growing steadily.
Thank god I started this business or else I probably still wouldn't be on-line and never would have been able to enjoy our board. Only one of my friends has read the books and he lives in Sydney, so this board has been a great friend to me over the last eighteen months.
Here's cheers
Lord

GreenGerg
User ID: 0896204 Aug 1st 12:29 PM
No offense, Lannister, but either you're hanging out in the wrong towns, or you live in someplace boring like, I dunno, Hempstead, but I can't pass up the opportunity to not only defend my beloved hometown of Huntington, but Long Island in general. I grew up in Queens (which is a semi-urban part of New York City), but actually *chose* to move to Long Island a decade ago, because I loved it.

Long Island has a undeserved bad rep. People think of the LIE (I've seen equally bad/traffic-laden highways everywhere from Illinois to Massachusetts to New Mexico--big deal), or bad accents (not very prevalent), or the LIRR. I used to commute every day into Manhattan, and the trains were rarely late. I still use the railroad a few times a month, and haven't had any problems.

You erroneously claimed "There's one good state park on LI, but after the 85th visit it gets a little dull"--maybe you haven't explored enough. Heckscher State Park right here in Huntington is wonderful---I haven't quite been there 85 times yet, but unless nature bores you, how can it be dull? The birds and tree frogs sing out a song of assent! I've camped and hiked and biked all over the East Coast of America, and the LI Pine Barrens are as good as any a place to explore---the mountain bike trails at Rocky Point are spectacular. How about Shelter Island?---a gorgeous unspoiled place to wander in the woods. What about the Nissequoge River park? You can spend the entire day canoeing there in magical silence, viewing tons of wildlife. Watch Hill park on Fire Island is great---three summers ago, my wife and I spent my 31st birthday weekend camping in the dunes there, with no one for company save herds of shy deer and the stars--it's a beautiful place. Hither Hills State Park overlooking the stunning vistas of the Napeague Peninsula is top-notch as well...my family has a summer house out in Montauk and I've spent many lazy summer days slamming my mountain bike through the endless miles of wooded trails above the dunes, gazing out at Connecticut across the Sound, taking a quick dip in the lagoon. There are other great parks, too---get moving, Lannister!

As for apartments, well, the lifestyle here is predominantly about homes, not apartments, but you *can* find one without being ripped off--what you do here is rent part of a house (before I got married I lived for years in a nice upstairs 2-room flat in Huntington Station, for roughly $900 a month including utilities---my friends in Manhattan and Brooklyn pay TWICE that for half the space!).

I'll refute your other point too ("a person could blindfold me take me anyplace on LI and set me wandering around blindly and within 300 yards there will be some sort of Mall"). This would definitely not be true out on the North Fork or in the Hamptons, or even where I am in western Suffolk...come to Huntington Village and your experiment will fail. The closest mall is the Walt Whitman Mall (yeah, the locquacious poet supreme hailed from Huntington!) which is way down in Huntington Station, many times your chosen distance. Huntington, like many other older towns on the North Shore (Port Jefferson, Roslyn, Port Washington, etc.) does not fit the cliched mold of the Levittown-like cookie-cutter suburban sinkhole. They have history, character. What I love about Huntington is that it's a real town, not just a collection of housing developments. The Village is packed with unique local businesses (my wife owns a gourmet chocolate shop) and people actually stroll around. And Huntington has the best nightlife on LI outside of NYC---excellent restaurants and bars of every kind, a world-class art cinema center, galleries, thriving blues and ska scenes---summer nights the streets are vibrant and packed with people. if you like malls, you surely can find them (especially in Nassau County), but there's just as many in the Midwest (ever been to South Bend, IN?) and the Southeast.

Some other reasons why the Island is cool:
1) The wineries are wonderful. Seriously, having tasted wines from all over the USA, I think the North Fork (of LI) wines are second only to the California vineyards in quality, and are getting more individualistic every year (I like Paumanok, Hargrave, Pindar, Gristina, and Bedell---try some of the rieslings and merlot/cab blends). Lannister, have you ever gone out on a wine-tasting/farm-stand trek in the autumn--it's an exceedingly fun thing to do with a bunch of friends. And if you like beer even better than wine, as I do, try Blue Point Pale Ale.

2) The people are funny. Humor-wise, I mean. It is no accident that Murphy, Seinfeld, Crystal, ad infinitum grew up here. Life isn't dour.

3) Gold Coast architecture and history (Theodore Roosevelt Museum, "Great Gatsby," Sands Point, the marvelous Oheka Castle, etc.). There's lots to see and read about.

4) Special places with their own special flavor: Sag Harbor (whaling museums, tapas joints, famous authors), the "Little India" restaurant scene of Hicksville, Cold Spring Harbor (with its world-famous genetics lab, fisheries program, and quaint shopping district), Long Beach, etc.

5) Diversity...outsiders may be surprised, but there's a lot of it. My fellow townspeople come from everywhere (Thailand, Ecuador, France, Pakistan, England, Armenia, Germany, just to name people I actually know) and within a 15-minute drive I can go out to eat almost any kind of ethnic cuisine I want.

6) Art and film. The area definitely attracts and inspires artists. Aside from current local talent, you can visit the studios of Jackson Pollack, Willem de Kooning, and others. As for film, there's directors Hal Hartley (check out his 1998 masterpiece "Henry Fool") and Ed Burns and others, a good crop of young female thespians (Natalie Portman, Parker Posey, Heather Matarazzo, etc.) plus the Long Island Film Festival, and god knows what else out in the Hamptons.

Last but farthest from least:
7) The beaches (and the ocean, fishing, boating). Whether you want to go beachcombing for Indian paint pots at Makamah Beach in Fort Salonga (I've got a basketful), check out concerts at Jones Beach (just saw Page & Crowes there two weeks ago), surf at Ditch Plains in Montauk, or catch enough giant flukes for a fish fry, as we did last month, LI's water recreation is as good as any. Montauk is maybe my favorite place on earth--it's not called the fishing capital of the US for nothing. I spent my childhood summers living there, and it's still a special place, very reminiscent of Cape Cod, though still not as touristed-out and the beaches are never too crowded. During the winter the town is lovely and still and you can watch the majestic lighthouse sweep over the snow-covered forests and dark water.

I've been to a few cities I've fallen in love with---Portland, ME and Taos and Munich---and many places I really enjoyed---Cleveland, Montreal, Albuquerque, Vienna, Pittsburgh, London, Providence (you're right Ser Gary, I was there in 1989 on an HP Lovecraft pilgrimage, and went back last spring and was pleasantly surprised at how it's improved), Indianapolis, Cologne (I did love the riverside, architecture, and the kolsch), Baltimore, Isla Mujeres--but I wouldn't want to live anywhere but Long Island! Thus ends my paean. Sorry to discourse at such length, but Island-bashing gets my dander up, and I like to do my part in countering the false image often instilled. Anyone here traveling to New York is welcome to visit for a day and I'll do my best to show you the "real" Long Island.

Jeff
User ID: 1536664 Aug 2nd 11:04 AM
gad, I thought that the entire _purpose_ of company Christmas parties was to make lecherous advances.

gad
User ID: 8736803 Aug 3rd 2:41 AM
precisely

Back 20 Messages

Ser Gary User ID: 1523284	Feb 16th 9:56 AM Because we all come from different parts of the world, this board offers us a unique opportunity in terms of our personal education. Therefore, I though it might be worthwhile for each of us to write something about the area in which we live. Perhaps a paragraph or two. Don't go into great detail. Depending on how this goes, perhaps we could take this to other areas of information in the future. Naturally, I'll go first. I live in Johnston, Rhode Island, which is in the northeast region of the United States. Johnston is a town of about 30,000 residents located some 7-8 miles west of Rhode Island's capital city of Providence. Rhode Island is noted for being the smallest of America's 50 states, but it is among the leaders in population per square mile. When tourists ask about what to see and do in Rhode Island, they are invariably pointed in the direction of Newport, which is a beautiful and popular seaside resort. For a long time, Newport was home to the America's Cup yacht races and some of this country's most prominent families, including the Vanderbilts and the Astors. Shortly after the turn of the twentieth century, Newport was THE place to be for America's rich and famous. The land is still dotted with huge mansions and picturesque properties. Most have since come under the jurisdiction of the state or some preservation society, for the great depression of the late 1920s definitely took its toll on the upper classes here and they had difficulty maintaining such extravagant lifestyles. Today, tours of some of these premises are offered for a set price, which goes toward offsetting their incredibly high property tax rates. I didn't really want to focus exclusively on Newport, though. For Providence is where a true renaissance has been taking place. A little more than a decade ago, Rhode Island's capital city was on the brink of collapse. It was literally falling apart. The darker sections of the city were expanding and businesses were leaving in droves. When things looked their absolute bleakest, a concerted effort was made to resuscitate the city -- and it's been working. The downtown area was renovated to make it more "people friendly". Roads were re-routed, as was the Providence River! Dilapidated structures were torn down and replaced by beautiful new ones. The downtown area became truly majestic. They actually now offer gondola rides on the river, and an exhibition called "Waterfires" is held during many months of the year. Basically, canisters lining the center of the river are set ablaze to wondrous effect. There is a huge outdoor skating rink, ala Times Square, and a magnificent new shopping center called "Providence Place Mall" recently opened to rave reviews. Incredibly, Providence still boasts the Arcade, which is the oldest indoor shopping mall in the U.S., dating to the early 1800s. Providence is also home to three world-class institutions of higher education: Brown University, a member of the Ivy League; the R.I. School of Design, regarded as one of the finest graphic arts schools in the world; and Johnson and Wales University, which has a similar reputation with respect to the culinary arts.
Jim User ID: 9077913	Aug 1st 0:03 AM All of you guys live in interesting places. I feel rather embarrassed to admit that I live in Valdosta, GA where the only thing that outnumbers the roaches are the rednecks. The water is bad, the traffic is chaotic, the police to citizen ratio is 1 to 10 (I don't have a problem with cops, I'm just not too fond of Valdosta Police) and all they do is harrass college kids like me. But as much as I complain, I do have to admit I have a certain fondness for the dumpy, smelly town.
gad User ID: 8736803	Aug 1st 4:58 AM Ants unfortunately the prejudices are nothing as deep as any historical grievances. Basically white South African are jealous of Australians because there are great similarities in our lifestyles, but Australians do not have the taint of apartheid, and now do not have to deal with the scourge of crime. Oh yes, and you beat us in just about everything: Rugby World Cup semi-finals, last ball's of cricket world cup etc, etc. The prejudices take the form of really bad jokes in which sheep feature prominently (why do Australians like to shag sheep at the edge of a cliff?, for eg)
Lord User ID: 1871394	Aug 1st 7:21 AM Good to see some other Australians are about. I thought all the sheep jokes were directed at the kiwis. I'm from Newcastle by the way, and I hate to say, Ants, that I have never been to Melbourne. Of course I travel to Sydney at least several times a year to socialise. (Up the Knight this weekend by the way. I'm not really a supporter but I think the Sydney-Melbourne rivally could be extended to Newcastle) My home city has a reputation for being an industrial city, but with the closure of the main steelmaking centre the place is undergoing something of an image metamorphosis (or so I like to believe). Definitely though, Newcastle has a great aspect from the suburbs and the sea, with a beautiful Cathedral dominating the skyline in such a way that I think many small European cities would be envious of. I have travelled to Europe, but more recently to South-east Asia and South America. I have a small ISP business which is growing steadily. Thank god I started this business or else I probably still wouldn't be on-line and never would have been able to enjoy our board. Only one of my friends has read the books and he lives in Sydney, so this board has been a great friend to me over the last eighteen months. Here's cheers Lord
GreenGerg User ID: 0896204	Aug 1st 12:29 PM No offense, Lannister, but either you're hanging out in the wrong towns, or you live in someplace boring like, I dunno, Hempstead, but I can't pass up the opportunity to not only defend my beloved hometown of Huntington, but Long Island in general. I grew up in Queens (which is a semi-urban part of New York City), but actually chose to move to Long Island a decade ago, because I loved it. Long Island has a undeserved bad rep. People think of the LIE (I've seen equally bad/traffic-laden highways everywhere from Illinois to Massachusetts to New Mexico--big deal), or bad accents (not very prevalent), or the LIRR. I used to commute every day into Manhattan, and the trains were rarely late. I still use the railroad a few times a month, and haven't had any problems. You erroneously claimed "There's one good state park on LI, but after the 85th visit it gets a little dull"--maybe you haven't explored enough. Heckscher State Park right here in Huntington is wonderful---I haven't quite been there 85 times yet, but unless nature bores you, how can it be dull? The birds and tree frogs sing out a song of assent! I've camped and hiked and biked all over the East Coast of America, and the LI Pine Barrens are as good as any a place to explore---the mountain bike trails at Rocky Point are spectacular. How about Shelter Island?---a gorgeous unspoiled place to wander in the woods. What about the Nissequoge River park? You can spend the entire day canoeing there in magical silence, viewing tons of wildlife. Watch Hill park on Fire Island is great---three summers ago, my wife and I spent my 31st birthday weekend camping in the dunes there, with no one for company save herds of shy deer and the stars--it's a beautiful place. Hither Hills State Park overlooking the stunning vistas of the Napeague Peninsula is top-notch as well...my family has a summer house out in Montauk and I've spent many lazy summer days slamming my mountain bike through the endless miles of wooded trails above the dunes, gazing out at Connecticut across the Sound, taking a quick dip in the lagoon. There are other great parks, too---get moving, Lannister! As for apartments, well, the lifestyle here is predominantly about homes, not apartments, but you can find one without being ripped off--what you do here is rent part of a house (before I got married I lived for years in a nice upstairs 2-room flat in Huntington Station, for roughly $900 a month including utilities---my friends in Manhattan and Brooklyn pay TWICE that for half the space!). I'll refute your other point too ("a person could blindfold me take me anyplace on LI and set me wandering around blindly and within 300 yards there will be some sort of Mall"). This would definitely not be true out on the North Fork or in the Hamptons, or even where I am in western Suffolk...come to Huntington Village and your experiment will fail. The closest mall is the Walt Whitman Mall (yeah, the locquacious poet supreme hailed from Huntington!) which is way down in Huntington Station, many times your chosen distance. Huntington, like many other older towns on the North Shore (Port Jefferson, Roslyn, Port Washington, etc.) does not fit the cliched mold of the Levittown-like cookie-cutter suburban sinkhole. They have history, character. What I love about Huntington is that it's a real town, not just a collection of housing developments. The Village is packed with unique local businesses (my wife owns a gourmet chocolate shop) and people actually stroll around. And Huntington has the best nightlife on LI outside of NYC---excellent restaurants and bars of every kind, a world-class art cinema center, galleries, thriving blues and ska scenes---summer nights the streets are vibrant and packed with people. if you like malls, you surely can find them (especially in Nassau County), but there's just as many in the Midwest (ever been to South Bend, IN?) and the Southeast. Some other reasons why the Island is cool: 1) The wineries are wonderful. Seriously, having tasted wines from all over the USA, I think the North Fork (of LI) wines are second only to the California vineyards in quality, and are getting more individualistic every year (I like Paumanok, Hargrave, Pindar, Gristina, and Bedell---try some of the rieslings and merlot/cab blends). Lannister, have you ever gone out on a wine-tasting/farm-stand trek in the autumn--it's an exceedingly fun thing to do with a bunch of friends. And if you like beer even better than wine, as I do, try Blue Point Pale Ale. 2) The people are funny. Humor-wise, I mean. It is no accident that Murphy, Seinfeld, Crystal, ad infinitum grew up here. Life isn't dour. 3) Gold Coast architecture and history (Theodore Roosevelt Museum, "Great Gatsby," Sands Point, the marvelous Oheka Castle, etc.). There's lots to see and read about. 4) Special places with their own special flavor: Sag Harbor (whaling museums, tapas joints, famous authors), the "Little India" restaurant scene of Hicksville, Cold Spring Harbor (with its world-famous genetics lab, fisheries program, and quaint shopping district), Long Beach, etc. 5) Diversity...outsiders may be surprised, but there's a lot of it. My fellow townspeople come from everywhere (Thailand, Ecuador, France, Pakistan, England, Armenia, Germany, just to name people I actually know) and within a 15-minute drive I can go out to eat almost any kind of ethnic cuisine I want. 6) Art and film. The area definitely attracts and inspires artists. Aside from current local talent, you can visit the studios of Jackson Pollack, Willem de Kooning, and others. As for film, there's directors Hal Hartley (check out his 1998 masterpiece "Henry Fool") and Ed Burns and others, a good crop of young female thespians (Natalie Portman, Parker Posey, Heather Matarazzo, etc.) plus the Long Island Film Festival, and god knows what else out in the Hamptons. Last but farthest from least: 7) The beaches (and the ocean, fishing, boating). Whether you want to go beachcombing for Indian paint pots at Makamah Beach in Fort Salonga (I've got a basketful), check out concerts at Jones Beach (just saw Page & Crowes there two weeks ago), surf at Ditch Plains in Montauk, or catch enough giant flukes for a fish fry, as we did last month, LI's water recreation is as good as any. Montauk is maybe my favorite place on earth--it's not called the fishing capital of the US for nothing. I spent my childhood summers living there, and it's still a special place, very reminiscent of Cape Cod, though still not as touristed-out and the beaches are never too crowded. During the winter the town is lovely and still and you can watch the majestic lighthouse sweep over the snow-covered forests and dark water. I've been to a few cities I've fallen in love with---Portland, ME and Taos and Munich---and many places I really enjoyed---Cleveland, Montreal, Albuquerque, Vienna, Pittsburgh, London, Providence (you're right Ser Gary, I was there in 1989 on an HP Lovecraft pilgrimage, and went back last spring and was pleasantly surprised at how it's improved), Indianapolis, Cologne (I did love the riverside, architecture, and the kolsch), Baltimore, Isla Mujeres--but I wouldn't want to live anywhere but Long Island! Thus ends my paean. Sorry to discourse at such length, but Island-bashing gets my dander up, and I like to do my part in countering the false image often instilled. Anyone here traveling to New York is welcome to visit for a day and I'll do my best to show you the "real" Long Island.
Jeff User ID: 1536664	Aug 2nd 11:04 AM gad, I thought that the entire _purpose_ of company Christmas parties was to make lecherous advances.
gad User ID: 8736803	Aug 3rd 2:41 AM precisely