10 favorite counties (cultures) & why?

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List (or rank) your favorite cultures and give a few short one word explinations (musicians, geographical locations, food, painters, film, etc).

here's mine:

Japan - Jpop, noise, sushi, Kurosawa, anime, Kabuki, zen
France - Renoir, Debussey, Serge Gainsboug, Jaques Brel
America - individuality, NYC, LA, jazz
India - Food, Ravi Shankar, Zakir Hussain, dances
Brazil - Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, rain forest
Iran - Kiarostami, Majidi
Mexico - pyramids, food, films
England - Beatles, Bowie, Roxy Music, Shakespear
Indonesia - Gamelon, temples, puppet shows
Russia - Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekov, railroad

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 01:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Thailand REPRESENT

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 01:47 (twenty-three years ago)

counties? that should be countries.

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 01:57 (twenty-three years ago)

All of the following nations and their respective cultures have been selected for their contributions to film, music, booze, food, technology and my personal well-being. Bonus points are given to anglophone cultures because I am a member and it's dumb to pretend. Particular strong points appear in parenthetical notation.

US(mbt)UK(mb)CA(b)KR(fft)JP(fmt)DE(mbt)FR(mb)MX(bf)IN(ff)AU(fm)

― Millar (Millar), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 02:02 (twenty-three years ago)

Hey, give some props to AU for our booze too, man! We have some very decent wines and beers! *harrumph*

― Trayce (trayce), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 02:49 (twenty-three years ago)

Lake County, Illinois
New York County, New York
Los Angeles County, California
and er . . . what is that, the Home Counties or something? London County?

― felicity (felicity), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 02:56 (twenty-three years ago)

1.1 added compression and included a feature which allows Australia to get credit for some excellent port

SmbtUmbCbKfftJfmtDmbtFmbMbfNffAfmb

― Millar (Millar), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 03:03 (twenty-three years ago)

1.1.0a fixed 'forgot about okonomiyake' bug

SmbtUmbCbKfftJfmftDmbtFmbMbfNffAfmb

― Millar (Millar), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 03:05 (twenty-three years ago)

can i DO counties?

01. Middlesex (half of its been swallowed up by London so gets the sympathy vote despite having no interesting stereotypical qualities at all)

02. Yorkshire (rolling hills, scary accents, tripe, coal miners)

03. Somerset (Glasto, druids, bumpkins, pasties, cider, beastiality)

04. Cornwall (see Somerset, plus amazing sunsets and wizened old trolls who live in coves)

05. Sussex (Brighton, pikeys, beautiful countryside)

06. Cumbria (Lakes yadda yadda)

07. Lancashire (funny accents, scallies, M62)

08. Hertfordshire (pretty pubs, horrible new towns, factory outlets, more pikeys)

09. Norfolk (mustard, Alan Partridge, windmills)

10. Essex (boy racers, fake tans, fey cockney accents, dodgy seaside towns, Lakeside, Romford meatmarkets - wahey)

its all true

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 10:56 (twenty-three years ago)

1. Kings County
2. Queens County

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 12:00 (twenty-three years ago)

1. Japan (girls, gadgets, good taste, general insane niceness of everything)
2. Germany (Berlin, my new home, microdub, trains running on time, liberalism)
3. USA (make me a new America out of NYC, California and Oregon)
4. China (because it's their 1960s right now)
5. Scotland (Rabbie Burns, Thomas Carlyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, electricity, telephones, television etc)
6. Italy (Pasolini, Fellini, Gramsci, not Berlusconi)
7. Tibet / Nepal / Bhutan (natural highs)
8. France (Hypo, Discom, Gel, dDamage, Palais de Tokyo)
9. Vietnam (will visit one day)
10. United States of Europe, Roman Empire (a past state and a future one)

― Momus (Momus), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 12:03 (twenty-three years ago)

what microdub is rocking your world at the moment, nick? The new Pole is very very dissapointing.

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 12:07 (twenty-three years ago)

Being pedantic, Middlesex isn't actually a county.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 12:10 (twenty-three years ago)

What is it then?

― SittingPretty (sittingpretty), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 13:06 (twenty-three years ago)

A memory.

― Pete (Pete), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 13:07 (twenty-three years ago)

what county is london then?is that a silly question?

― alix (alix), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 14:01 (twenty-three years ago)

it's a metropolitan borough, like Manchester. I think

― chris (chris), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 14:02 (twenty-three years ago)

Its a metropolitan something but not a borough. Manchester is a metropolitan borough within Greater Manchester.

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 14:09 (twenty-three years ago)

Greater Manchester is officially a planet (twinned with Mars, obv).

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 14:12 (twenty-three years ago)

Polyopolis?

Googolopolis?

― chris (chris), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 14:15 (twenty-three years ago)

Momus, if you wish the US were composed only on NYC, CA, and Oregon, you can't really claim to appreciate the US.

― Amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 16:03 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm bemused by the idea of Momus setting up a commune in eastern Oregon and wondering why he keeps getting shot at.

"I thought everyone was cool around here, ouch!"

"This is why you never go too far away from the I-5."

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 16:20 (twenty-three years ago)

So, no one can actually tell me where London belongs, countywise? Perhaps it's an oversight that topographers or whoever have been hoping no one will notice.

― alix (alix), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 16:44 (twenty-three years ago)

Momus's comments remind me of why I hate living in NYC again: the constant talk of the rest of the US being "flyover country." Dud.

― hstencil, Wednesday, 12 March 2003 16:49 (twenty-three years ago)

Momus should find a nice spot in the desert, have a magazine rack-cum-boutique planted next to a small art museum next to a sushi bar, and a small desk with an iMac and a set of speakers. Every few months the Swiss Guard will stop by leaving food supplies, a Japanese coed, and the newest comp from the most vanguard German electronic music label (and pick up last month's supply of course).

― Amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 16:54 (twenty-three years ago)

I too demand to know the name of the county containing London, England!

― felicity (felicity), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 16:57 (twenty-three years ago)

Its not a county. We can't quite work out what it is but its known as Greater London.

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 17:23 (twenty-three years ago)

London hasn't been in a county since 1986, when its county council was shut down for being a bit too left-wing for the government's taste

― caitlin (caitlin), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 17:25 (twenty-three years ago)

no even when it was GLC it wasn't a county, it was metropolitan something. It ceased to be a county when the LCC ceased to be.

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 17:26 (twenty-three years ago)

This is fascinating. So London has no:

county cricket
county seat
county fair
county line

I love county culture! I feel sad for London.

― felicity (felicity), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 17:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Wasn't it one of the Metropolitan Counties? There used to be several, most in the north of England.

― caitlin (caitlin), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 17:30 (twenty-three years ago)

Yes, how-to-skin-a-rabbit demonstrations at county fairs are the best (also elephant ears and 11-year-olds singing Celine Dion songs)!

― Amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 17:30 (twenty-three years ago)

In any case, since the mid-90s there have been lots of areas of Britain that aren't actually in a county, after several of the county councils were replaced with Unitary Authorities. London was unusual in that it happened 10 years earlier.

― caitlin (caitlin), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 17:31 (twenty-three years ago)

But where will you have your pie pie eating contests and roof thatching demonstrations and quilt-offs?

― felicity (felicity), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 17:34 (twenty-three years ago)

zone 7

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 17:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Ah, ferret displays. Traction engines. Gun dogs. Show jumping. gymkhana.Craft workshops.Things made from willow. Cakes.A stall selling every screwdriver you'll never need.a wide range of cushions. Local tea towels. small children. A man wandering round with a carthorse.Pig roasts. I love county fairs.

― alix (alix), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 17:36 (twenty-three years ago)

what's zone 7?

I thought it went: 123456ABCD

― caitlin (caitlin), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 17:37 (twenty-three years ago)

zone 7 is an ile term for everything that lies beyond zone 6 i.e. the rest of the world. (ABCD no longer exist due to ken's fantastic £2 bus passes).

― Ed (dali), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 17:46 (twenty-three years ago)

So far only 2-3 people really did the exercise...
Is there anyone else willing to do it?

― A Nairn (moretap), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 19:45 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd like to hear other's lists, but I'm so under-travelled and yet simultaneosly like so many countries that it would be impossible to do.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 19:57 (twenty-three years ago)

1. Japan - I'm interested in more different art forms here than anywhere else (gardens! inro! calligraphy!), Kurosawa is my favourite director, Sesshu and Hokusai are among my favourite painters, Lone Wolf & Cub is among my favourite comics.
2. America - more of my favourite music than anywhere else, most of my favourite movies and writers and comics.
3. UK - second on music, plus some of the greatest ever writers. Shakespeare counts for a lot.
4. France - painters, 19th C writers, gothic cathedrals, an appreciation for the intellectual, Renoir and Gabin and Prevert's films.
5. Italy - Renaissance and baroque sculptors, Venetian painters, some fine modern writers.
6. China - for the world's most continuous culture, for Zen painting and other fine arts, plus kung fu.
7. Turkey - mostly Istanbul for its buildings really, but also the great Yashar Kemal's books.
8. Jamaica - reggae.
9. Spain - Cervantes, some great painters.
10. Germany - the horrors of fascism tempt me to leave this out, but Durer and Grass and Digital Hardcore get it in.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 20:07 (twenty-three years ago)

Condemning Momus for namechecking favourite US 'counties' in thread which explicitly demands favouritism = dud, dudes.

― Momus (Momus), Thursday, 13 March 2003 12:57 (twenty-three years ago)

I think it was the fact that you dissed 90% of the country while praising the 'usual suspects' that people took offense to.

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 13 March 2003 15:48 (twenty-three years ago)

greater london is the county

― gareth waiting for mary to get ready (Mary), Thursday, 13 March 2003 16:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Momus, I don't think you want to step to Cook County (Chicago) . . .

― felicity (felicity), Thursday, 13 March 2003 16:09 (twenty-three years ago)

I learned recently that BERKSHIRE is no longer a county.

― N. (nickdastoor), Friday, 14 March 2003 00:15 (twenty-three years ago)

ha I actually saw Momus in Cook County once. What a godawful "performance" that was.

― hstencil, Friday, 14 March 2003 00:21 (twenty-three years ago)

At the Empty Bottle?

― felicity (felicity), Friday, 14 March 2003 00:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah Momus if you had picked some cities like Vegas and Nashville you'd still be cool, unfortunately you have put yourself solidly in with the college sophomores of 1998

― Millar (Millar), Friday, 14 March 2003 00:29 (twenty-three years ago)

No at the Double Door.

― hstencil, Friday, 14 March 2003 00:36 (twenty-three years ago)

My opinion: "Momus" (the internet personality; I've no idea what Nick Currie is like) seems to find what he seeks, and only what he seeks, everywhere. So NYC, LA, etc. become expressions of whatever facet of Momus's personality he chooses to showcase that month. That which he cannot easily break down into grist for his vanguard-of-the-moment web essays is simply expelled, ignored, or condescended to. His reportage from sleepy Middletown, Connecticut was v. patronizing and riddled with error. His reportage from the great SW, well you can sense the fear and confusion--which actually made it my favorite-ever entry in his web travelogues. So all that said I must add: I find him charming and provocative and interesting.

― Amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 14 March 2003 05:10 (twenty-three years ago)

momus-hate is so like, two years ago, isn't it?

momus has an ibook = he rules

(sez me writing from an ibook that only has like 200 MB free gah argh ack)

― geeta (geeta), Friday, 14 March 2003 05:36 (twenty-three years ago)

I suppose he should be proud that he is one of the few things on this board to get my goat -- but you're right, my post was kind of gauche.

― Amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 14 March 2003 05:38 (twenty-three years ago)

Momus says...

>>
8. France (Hypo, Discom, Gel, dDamage, Palais de Tokyo)

now, that's VERY cliché from a Parisian point of view ! :)

― Antonin, Friday, 14 March 2003 15:21 (twenty-three years ago)

That's our Momus. So original he doesn't have to be original.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Friday, 14 March 2003 15:26 (twenty-three years ago)

So far only 2-3 people really did the exercise...
Is there anyone else willing to do it?

1. Midwest America (home, oaks, fields, populism, quintessence)
2. Los Angeles (simulacrum, Downtown, the Industry, dogs)
3. New York (the mix: pedestrian-scaled, skyscrapers, subways)
4. London (edification, ritual leisure, romance, wit)
5. Academia (squirrels, ice cream, dialectical materialism)
6. Cyberspace (absolutism, logic, instantaneousness, forensic)
7. Law (cops, gadgets, archaeology, acting, costumes - wow)
8. France (pragmatism, beauty, charm, Pere Lachaise, Chartres)
9. Sports (sportsmanship, grace, hubris, gossip)
10. New England (Arcadia, fortitude, reversion, family)

― felicity (felicity), Friday, 14 March 2003 15:58 (twenty-three years ago)

I apologize for my posts on this thread. Pretty needlessly snipey. Also, I haven't been enough places to make a list.

― Amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 14 March 2003 16:14 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm sure the fun is in making the categories, Amst.! I for one don't know enough about the Chicago streets and neighboroods . . . or Eastern European cinema . . . or cute strangers on Metra . . .

― felicity (felicity), Friday, 14 March 2003 16:26 (twenty-three years ago)

Sweden
Spain
Canada
Finland
Germany (Berlin specifically)
Iceland
France

I can only do places I've been really, but I'll throw in Argentina and Vietnam as two places I dearly want to go to. And of course I love and hate my own country (UK) in equal amounts.

― Tag (Tag), Friday, 14 March 2003 16:39 (twenty-three years ago)

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