Dear England, why is your country so pretty?

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Obligatory Stonehenge photo:

This also reminded me of how much I hate that I'm going bald and have to keep my hair very close.

[BadBeast]

If and when the plans are finalised, it certainly will not go unopposed. I will certainly be getting my activist boots back on. It's not like it won't be the first time I'll have had my head split in running battles with the Police at Stonehenge. (I was at the Battle of the Beanfield in '85)   
And I think there's an EU Directive involved too, because the A303 has to be upgraded and widened to comply with "Euro-route" standards. But I say fuck all that, we don't need, or even want to be to be in the fucking EU anyway. We were only in it because the Tories fucked us all over with that "Common Market"  bullshit, then sold us all down the river while they were burying their snouts in the trough.

Here's a rare treat, from the Unit. "Stonehenge, who knows" A Battle Hymn, commemorating the Summer of 1985, playing Cat and Mouse with the Riot squads all across Wiltshire and the south west all Summer. Some great pics in the video too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZsIzekl2uE

[East Coast Hustle]

Boston has its share of ugly, and its share of beauty. Sure, it ain't ancient, but it's nice. It's refreshing to see those spatters of colonial and post-revolution spots, and I imagine Providence is the same. Hell, I get off a bus and walk past a cemetary where veterans of the Revolution are interred every work day. Sure, it's next to a fucking Walgreens and a cell phone store, but it's there, just to remind you of where you live, and what happened there. Fuck, I know that Providence has it. My times there have been short and intermittent, but I've seen there what I appreciate in Boston.

Boston is BY FAR my favorite city on the east coast. I have no use for the rest of Mass (or indeed for the rest of New England that isn't Maine), but I think Boston is pretty awesome.

As long as I don't have to drive in it.

[Suu]

Boston isn't fantastic, it just has better methods at hiding it's filth than Providence and New York.

In fact, one of my favorite bums from my time working in Boston somehow found her way to Providence. I think Boston is bussing them down like Phoenix does it to Tucson.

As for driving, Providence is partially designed like New York, so there's a grid, but half of it is like Boston and designed for horse and buggy and OMG. It's better to walk it, as long as you can handle the hills.

[East Coast Hustle]

Sorry, I know you have hometown pride and all, but Boston is LIGHT YEARS better in every way than Providence.

Or New York, which is actually a filthy scumhole whose only purpose is to keep New Yorkers from infesting the rest of the country.

ECH's Ranking of east coast cities, from best to worst:

1) Boston

2) Savannah, GA

3) Charleston, SC

4) Portland, ME

5) Everywhere else








102369) New York City.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Yeah, NYC aside from being aesthetically challenged is also exceedingly malodorous practically anywhere you go.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

For all you Portland Yankspags, (Or just Nigel) here's the rock your Town was named for. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BT9GrwCAPw&feature=related

Neaaaaaaat!!!

[Suu]

Sorry, I know you have hometown pride and all, but Boston is LIGHT YEARS better in every way than Providence.

You're fucking kidding me, right?

This backwards corrupt state sucks. The only reason why I'm STILL here after the divorce is because I got into school on the free thanks to the state, and I intend to milk everything it's worth.

If I had to actually choose a place to live in within the Northeast and not given an option anywhere else, I'd probably choose New York, only because I've lived there, I love it, and the city doesn't startle me or disgust me in anyway, but my 2nd choice would be Burlington, VT, in a fucking heartbeat. As crunchy as it was, it still has the "city" feel even though it's not that big, and absolutely everyone is nice.



If I moved back down South, my first choice would be Savannah, hands down, even though outlying areas beyond the riverfront and downtown are a bit meh. I'd probably go back to Tampa, but I'd be REALLY FUCKING PICKY about what neighborhood, and I highly doubt I'd cross a bridge to St. Pete if I had to. That city has become a demilitarized zone since 2004, thanks to FEMA and Allstate, and I have ZERO patience for Clearwater, I have no idea how my parents do it...we've hated that part of the county since like FOREVER. I do really like Dunedin and Tarpon Springs, but the tourism in Tarpon would drive me through the roof. If I went south of the Bay, I'd probably go to Sarasota, East Coast would be St. Augustine, and the Panhandle would be Ft. Walton, but other than that, you won't catch me south of Rte 60, or anywhere along I-4.

[East Coast Hustle]

I was talking about cities in America. Vermont doesn't qualify.

[Suu]

I was talking about cities in America. Vermont doesn't qualify.

Neither does Maine.

[East Coast Hustle]

Maine might be the only part of America left.

Vermont is just the worst part of Quebec.

[Suu]

Maine might be the only part of America left.

Vermont is just the worst part of Quebec.

Oh hell no. I didn't tolerate that quacking bullshit when I was up there last year.

Fucking Quebecois...

See? They NEED me to move there!

[Jenne]

Vermont's gorgeous...so is a lot of western Massachusetts.  And tons of New Jersey (where I go every year for training in Princeton is absofuckinglutely beautiful).

I've been so fucking lucky, in CA, I have not lived in shit-ugly places since Big Bear (and before then, I admit we lived in some FUGGGGLY places in So Cal, my dad calls it the armpit of California, and he's not very far off).  To wit:


Big Bear Lake, CA: Where I lived for 7 years in jr. hi, high school and as a young adult.



Santa Barbara, CA:  Where I lived for 4 years going to undergrad.


Rancho Palos Verdes, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, CA: where I moved to when I graduated from UCSB.


UCLA:  where I got my masters (that building is where I defended my thesis)


San Diego:  where I live now (that last one is the skyline from my backyard).

[BadBeast]

Still doesn't beat the views around the Lizard.


Or Tintagel


Or the Durdle Door, in Dorset,

That Island on the horizon, to the right, is Portland.

[Jenne]

Sure it does.  I think touristy, come visit us! photos can be found on the 'net easily for pretty places.  I tried to pick more run-o'-the-mill pix (the one of the SD harbor's more schticky and the one of Big Bear, too) though, instead of the SHINY tourist-trappy ones.

There's a ton of breathtaking scenery in England, and there's a FUCKton in the US.  There's a shit-ton more VARIETY to be sure.  But you're going to find beauty in any place that's preserved raw nature or even enhanced it.  Take for instance this pic of my kiddo when we were at Glass Beach, because it's something *I* took, with a fucking iPhone for chrissakes, but the raw beauty of everything totally pops out:



My point is, if the beauty of a place "survives" the glamorizing of the photo, you really have a true gem to behold.  And there's PLENTY of that to be had everyfuckingwhere.  Even a hellhole like Afghanistan still has some gorgeous left in it.