Americans.

allabouttone

But it's not also that the society is fked up, it's what parents are teaching and/or not teaching their children!!!

Manic Moran

wyk wrote:

I'll tell ya wot, tho - there are some seriously racist son a bidges down south, and all heavily armed. Clarkson was lucky all he got was rock instead of lead.

Wez

Not really. It was staged.

Funny, but staged. Even the rednecks on the firearms sites I'm on recognised that.

NTM

Duggy747

Manic Moran wrote:

Not really. It was staged.

Funny, but staged. Even the rednecks on the firearms sites I'm on recognised that.

NTM

That bit actually wasn't staged, Hamster said himself in an interview that is was all real, including Richards crummy car not starting! :P

And to Plug who sent the Americans to a halting site, marvellous! You surely are an upstanding citizen!

wyk

Manic Moran wrote:

Not really. It was staged.

Funny, but staged. Even the rednecks on the firearms sites I'm on recognised that.

NTM

While I believe it was staged - Top gear _IS_ a production, afterall how can a car win every single time by mere minutes in thsoe car V transport EP's.... I was referring mostly to the words emblazoned on their cars. With their English accents and attitudes, that could have easily escalated quickly in the South. Things are a tad different here than in California...but I like it that way.

Wez

indough

Its an unscripted production. It definitely wasn't staged anyway you'd know that if you'd seen it, they were scared ****less

kmick

This is true. I have found asking them where that is really annoys them so that is what I always do. Another tack is to say - is taht in Mexico/Canade/Brazil depending on how cheeky you are?

Ger_Hankey wrote:

Just a random observation, but I've noticed if you ask any foreign person where they are from, the will say "I'm from Poland, I'm from Spain, I'm from Germany etc." If you ask an American, they don't say "I'm from America", they say "Im from Georgia, I'm from Texas" etc.
Wether its a result of being such a big country, or lack of information/education or whatever, they are very unaware of the world around them.
I know one woman, a very well-educated, intelligent American woman, very sucessful carreer minded person, who really believed that there were Leprechauns living in Ireland.

Little scary really...

redfacedbear

djpbarry wrote:

If I'm in America and someone asks me where I'm from and I say "Dublin", they will most likely either stare at me blankly or else say something like "in Ohio?” If an American asks me where I'm from, I will tell them I'm from Ireland. Now, granted, some will respond with "No! Really?!?!", because it's painfully obvious that I'm not American. But, some will also respond with "Where?”

The solution is to use the American convention of Town and State together. If I'm in America and asked where I'm from I say 'Dublin, Ireland' in the same way as an American might say 'I'm from Boston, Mass'. It works fine for me

wyk

indough wrote:

Its an unscripted production. It definitely wasn't staged anyway you'd know that if you'd seen it, they were scared ****less

I've seen it, as you have. Watch it again. Where did the rocks come from? It wasn't filmed in a quarry. Even in Alabama, they don't keep rock piles outside their filling stations. The locals would have gone for their guns if they felt threatened. What they were doing was simply running some troublemakers out of a filling station. The truck that shows up in the scene was a truck full of workers - look at their dark skin - they weren't 'reinforcements'.

Now TG certainly could have been scared. I do not believe that part was staged. But I do believe they made more of it than was going on. Either that, or the Brits are bit more ginger beer than I imagine.

If you see the episodes( have every one, plus Clarksons specials on my computer), Clarkson often makes statements about scripting the show, as he does in his journals and in his editorials in the Times, and there's the fact it isn't live, so even the truly unscripted parts are edited. Clarkson and the crew also had a laugh for winning an American Honor for being unscripted. If you think the entire show is unscripted, you may want to visit a production set sometime. Or Top Gear's set, assuming you can get tickets. I've been waiting for years

Wez

wyk

redfacedbear wrote:

The solution is to use the American convention of Town and State together. If I'm in America and asked where I'm from I say 'Dublin, Ireland' in the same way as an American might say 'I'm from Boston, Mass'. It works fine for me

Something I forgot to mention earlier, is Americans are used to other Americans asking where they are from. Our accents and traditions vary from state to state, community to community. In America, your state is very much your identity. Most Europeans really don't understand that. It is the "S" part in USA. Few Americans agree with the federal government, or identify with it, most of the time. While they all consider themselves Americans, most see their state as their main identity - especially southerners. When people in Ireland ask me where I am from, I assume they know I am an American, so I usually just say "Texas". Perhaps it upsets them I have robbed them of their second question...

Wez

Terry

wyk wrote:

In America, your state is very much your identity. Most Europeans really don't understand that.

I beg to differ.

Watch this. All of Dublin sucks. North, South and West.
More local: Farenders are ****.

As for the post before that. There was a little comment there that I picked up on. I'm not going to mention which part, but the PC brigade are going to have fun with it. Run.

Manic Moran

indough wrote:

Its an unscripted production. It definitely wasn't staged anyway you'd know that if you'd seen it, they were scared ****less

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=471541

BBC has openly admitted that for comedic effect, not everything you see on TG is entirely accurate. It's an entertainment show, not Gospel. And, frankly, I like it like that.

NTM

wyk

Terry wrote:

I beg to differ.

Watch this. All of Dublin sucks. North, South and West.
More local: Farenders are ****.

As for the post before that. There was a little comment there that I picked up on. I'm not going to mention which part, but the PC brigade are going to have fun with it. Run.

Laf! OK, point well taken. This still confuses me why they are so surprised when I explain I prefer to not be called a yank.

Wez

dbnavan

Reaches for his anti-american bashing soap box........................Fcuk it.......... its not worth getting into. OP not funny IMHO

Terry

wyk wrote:

Laf! OK, point well taken. This still confuses me why they are so surprised when I explain I prefer to not be called a yank.

Wez

Because people are idiots, regardless of nationality.

dbnavan wrote:

Reaches for his anti-american bashing soap box........................Fcuk it.......... its not worth getting into. OP not funny IMHO

[Rainier Wolfcastle]It's not a comedy[/Wolfcastle]

cournioni

I was in NY and south NJ two weeks ago for five days and I only saw two or three fat people for the duration. Many of the women were in better shape than the majority of the women you would see out over here.

This country isn't exactly health central either...

Tha Gopher

eo980 wrote:

I agree with Slow Motion. America bashing is fun when done well but .......

Strange, I seem to remember you having issue with the apparent Poland bashing here a few weeks ago. What makes Americans more acceptable to "bash"?

The guy the OP quoted knows less about the world than most Americans. India has one of the worlds largest Muslim populations (they just arent in the majority). WW II didnt exclusively take part in France, but a fair oul whack of it did. I dont even have to look up the figures to know that the US doesnt spend 50% of its tax on the military. The US hasnt built a new nucelar missile in years.

indough

wyk wrote:

I've seen it, as you have. Watch it again. Where did the rocks come from? It wasn't filmed in a quarry. Even in Alabama, they don't keep rock piles outside their filling stations. The locals would have gone for their guns if they felt threatened. What they were doing was simply running some troublemakers out of a filling station. The truck that shows up in the scene was a truck full of workers - look at their dark skin - they weren't 'reinforcements'.

Now TG certainly could have been scared. I do not believe that part was staged. But I do believe they made more of it than was going on. Either that, or the Brits are bit more ginger beer than I imagine.

If you see the episodes( have every one, plus Clarksons specials on my computer), Clarkson often makes statements about scripting the show, as he does in his journals and in his editorials in the Times, and there's the fact it isn't live, so even the truly unscripted parts are edited. Clarkson and the crew also had a laugh for winning an American Honor for being unscripted. If you think the entire show is unscripted, you may want to visit a production set sometime. Or Top Gear's set, assuming you can get tickets. I've been waiting for years

Wez

Yeah i've been on the top gear set not too long ago, well I suppose it's been a couple of years now alright. It doesn't really take that long you just have to get lucky in selection.

They probably were wrong to assume that the people in the truck were reinforcements, I thought that myself at the time, but I have no doubt that yer one was being serious in what she was saying to them. I think anyone would be scared in that situation though, you'd be lying if you said otherwise imo.

I think they probably have to pass some of the stuff off as fake now because they're getting a lot of stick and recently the show was close to being cancelled by the BBC. I think that had a lot to do with the train crash they did on the show, which was aired about a week after a real train crash in Britain. Of course some of it is done just for the benefit of making the show funny though, and has to be staged. The stuff in the studio is more than likely unscripted though.

wyk

indough wrote:

Yeah i've been on the top gear set not too long ago, well I suppose it's been a couple of years now alright. It doesn't really take that long you just have to get lucky in selection.

I'm gonna re-apply with a different name. I'm thinking Budleigh Salterton.

They probably were wrong to assume that the people in the truck were reinforcements, I thought that myself at the time, but I have no doubt that yer one was being serious in what she was saying to them. I think anyone would be scared in that situation though, you'd be lying if you said otherwise imo.

Well, there's a lot of folks in the South what talk like her. However, when yer in someones little town, and they likely know the law personally, it's wise not to stick out, let alone cause trouble. Though I am always armed while traveling the South, I am certainly not looking for a shootout...
One thing I bet TG didn't know was in half those trucks was a gun..Maybe more..

I think they probably have to pass some of the stuff off as fake now because they're getting a lot of stick and recently the show was close to being cancelled by the BBC. I think that had a lot to do with the train crash they did on the show, which was aired about a week after a real train crash in Britain. Of course some of it is done just for the benefit of making the show funny though, and has to be staged. The stuff in the studio is more than likely unscripted though.

That train program was very enlightening for some I would think. Trains are huge. In the States they start at 250,000 lbs with the larger engines being 400,000 lbs. That's two stories of iron and steel with nothing on it soft. You certainly do not want to be a trains air bag. I've seen a few car V train incidents here first hand. One engineer said "I heard a 'thunk' kind of sound. Then we hit the brakes...and stopped 600 yards afterwards..."

*shiver*

Wez

Rob_l

wyk wrote:

. Though I am always armed while traveling the South, I am certainly not looking for a shootout...
One thing I bet TG didn't know was in half those trucks was a gun..Maybe more..

im sorry this says it all for me anywhere you have to arm yourself to be safe is not safe

im not slating you personally but the idea of bringing out a lethal weapon for safety

does not makes sense to me

wyk

Rob_l wrote:

im sorry this says it all for me anywhere you have to arm yourself to be safe is not safe

im not slating you personally but the idea of bringing out a lethal weapon for safety

does not makes sense to me

No offense taken. I appreciate the honest viewpoint.

You are quite right, your point is valid. And, in fact, is one of the reasons I have acquired a job in Dublin, and am in the process of relocating there. Even Americans think it's out of hand.

Wez

Terry

wyk wrote:

No offense taken. I appreciate the honest viewpoint.

You are quite right, your point is valid. And, in fact, is one of the reasons I have acquired a job in Dublin, and am in the process of relocating there. Even Americans think it's out of hand.

Wez

Look at you. From Austin TX and all.
HBK would be turning in his grave if he was dead.

Reku

wyk wrote:

No offense taken. I appreciate the honest viewpoint.

You are quite right, your point is valid. And, in fact, is one of the reasons I have acquired a job in Dublin, and am in the process of relocating there. Even Americans think it's out of hand.

Wez

People having guns fair enough, even here if you have the cash and the will you can get them (best if you're a club member and have no significant criminal record but if you have the connections you could probably get them easy enough through shady characters).
People having assualt rifles though...
Seriously what other use can you really use to justify having one of these than causing trouble/killing people should you feel like it.
Handguns/shotguns I could accept as defensive weapons
Rifles/shotguns for hunting purposes
But assault rifles?!?:eek:

wyk

farohar wrote:

But assault rifles?!?:eek:

Assault rifles are for over throwing the government should it over step it's bounds(which it does daily), or defending your country against foreign invaders....according to the gun advocates.

Wez

wyk

Terry wrote:

Look at you. From Austin TX and all.
HBK would be turning in his grave if he was dead.

Hey now, I'm not about runnin. It's just one more reason not to miss the States is all.

Wez

FatherTed

The average American is no more or no less stupid than the average Irish/English/French etc person. It's nice to poke fun at how they are not knowledgable about world geography but the fact is that this subject is not that high on their list of priorities.

There are a few reasons for this: In schools American geography takes precedence over World geography. Also, from what I've scene, at least at my kids school, more emphasis is placed on cultural rather than geographical teaching e.g. my daughter's class(2nd grade) did a world cultural fair where each kid did a study on the cultural customs on their ancestral country. Every child did a great job and they got to know a little about other countries. But when I asked a few of the kids if they could find their country on a World Map, most could not. I suggested this to their teacher and thankfully they plotted all the countries featured at their fair on a map.

Also in the media, World News takes a back seat to local or US news. Fact is that Ireland is a small country, not much really happens that is newsworthy so there is more time to report on World news. People learn about things from watching the news but if the news is mostly about the US then that is all you can pick up.

togster

Its ignorance rather than stupidity

Man are they ignorant.

djpbarry

FatherTed wrote:

It's nice to poke fun at how they are not knowledgable about world geography but the fact is that this subject is not that high on their list of priorities.

But surely it ought to be, given their interference in the affairs of other nations?

FatherTed wrote:

Also in the media, World News takes a back seat to local or US news. Fact is that Ireland is a small country, not much really happens that is newsworthy so there is more time to report on World news. People learn about things from watching the news but if the news is mostly about the US then that is all you can pick up.

The US media is incredibly insular, but I don't think you can use this as an excuse for people's ignorance. If I relied on the media for my perception of the world, I'd think:

• Bertie was the greatest man alive
• That the single most important thing in the world is who wins Big Brother.
• That the only football worth watching is the English Premiership (and that England are the greatest team on the planet and have been since time began);)

the_syco

A small percentage are stupid as f**k. A small percentage of a few million will be a large number.

FatherTed

djpbarry wrote:

But surely it ought to be, given their interference in the affairs of other nations?

But that interference is driven by a few who want more power and money and is sold to the US public as "War on terr". And thats another story.

The US media is incredibly insular, but I don't think you can use this as an excuse for people's ignorance. If I relied on the media for my perception of the world, I'd think:

• Bertie was the greatest man alive
• That the single most important thing in the world is who wins Big Brother.
• That the only football worth watching is the English Premiership (and that England are the greatest team on the planet and have been since time began);)

Yes, I agree the US media is very insular, thats my point, but a lot of people here are not arsed to find out more. And Bertie is the greatest man alive

djpbarry

FatherTed wrote:

But that interference is driven by a few who want more power and money and is sold to the US public as "War on terr".

Regardless of who drives it, the US is an integral part of world politics and Americans need to understand how the rest of the world views them.

Father Ted wrote:

the US media is very insular, thats my point, but a lot of people here are not arsed to find out more.

And that's the problem - a lot of Americans are very apathetic about the world outside their own country (or state, even).