It's an itty teensy almost invisible island in the Gulf.

I did better on the map than I expected to: I was doing really well in the Middle East up until Yemen/Oman/Qatar and that region (I did know which was the U.A.E.); I got all of Africa except that I kept thinking Mali was a coastal country, so I messed up a bit in that area; and I wiped out completely on the 'stans.

Which reminds me of a little moment of pride I had when I was travelling with my friend in India in January, and I drew up a map of the countries in southern Africa that I'd traveled through, and I kept going north until I couldn't remember any more--but I got a lot of countries! My friend was impressed. Go geography skills (I love maps).

Jeff ... according to Ebroadcast.com.au (formerly Sofcom.com.au) all Aussies are seeing the same episodes of Angel (albeit a day earlier for Brisbane and Sydney) and the last ep we saw was "Apocolypse Nowish".

Buffy is a different story because Brisbane and Sydney get it on a Monday night and the rest of us on Tuesday. The Grammys broadcast means they are now an episode behind. We saw CwDP last week and they just saw it last night. Tonight we get "Sleeper" but they won't see it until next Monday.

even Romanian peasants get satellite TV (along with their wood-burning stove, their scythe-cut grass and their milk squeezed fresh from the cow)

FayJay, I can't believe you witnessed this in person! It's like meeting someone who used to make buggy whips. And thanks for your balanced perspective on poor beleaguered Zoe:

I can quite appreciate that you'd feel that "In a pig's arse" was a combative response...

...though not everybody can apply a comprehensive refutation as politely as Betsy. It's a gift. My version would be:

Since the close blood ties between the German and British monarchies (the Kaiser was King Edward's nephew) didn't stop, or even slow, WWI, I think that's a safe bet. BOO-YAH! Who's got a comeback NOW! Just sit down, UnAmericans, and let me school ya on some old-fashioned CUL-TURE, Yankee style. I got a fold-out Hanover family tree right here in my wallet!

Of course, I never get to do this. I lost Bahrain, just like meara, and I thought "U.A.E." was the abbreviation for Saudi Arabia.

I'm betting Holden telling Buffy about Scott being gay was a nod to Fab's appearances in QaF.

I'm glad to hear that. When I saw it, I thought they were saying, "He broke up with Buffy? He must be gay." This is better.

I ran across a post on Slate's Fray that might resonate if anyone thinks the war discussion is too much. I think it's working out, though, to have it bouncing from thread to thread. In each thread we pick up different opinions like FayJay's and Jim E-T's and give the other threads a break from the heavy stuff. It's cool.

I don't mind the Unamerican thread becoming the de facto War Thread for a little while, although it's had the rather strange and not entirely accurate effect that "Unamerican" has almost become a synonym for "anti-war" in some people's posts.

...it's had the rather strange and not entirely accurate effect that "Unamerican" has almost become a synonym for "anti-war" in some people's posts.

Well, quite. We're not French, after all.

(kidding....)

Heh. What I mean is, many (but not all) of us Unamerican Buffistas are in exactly the same position as many (but not all) of the American Buffistas: our nations are active participants in the war, but we're personally opposed to it.

Speaking of French. I was telling Natter a few days ago that my friend will be in from Paris on Thursday with her boyfriend. I'm nervous about some "patriotic" cowboy being nasty to him. Mostly the people I usually hang around are a)not stupid enough to take a view, even if it's the view of a majority, and mistake it for the view of one person they might meet and b) pretty reasonable people. It's the anti-French stuff on the radio and bumperstickers, and in the newspaper (mostly letters to the editor).

I went to college with a member of the Greek ex-royal family -- she was listed in the school phone book as "Greece, Alexandra."

Bwah! Really? How fabulous!

(Cheers for the gen on Prince Phil, btw - makes sense. Royalty - it's a funny old game, isn't it?)

My only namedropping thing is that I was at University with the present Max Von Hapsburg. He does have the Hapsburg chin. He was, spookily enough, studying Modern European History, which meant that he had to write quite a lot of essays about his ancestors and relations.

FayJay, I can't believe you witnessed this in person! It's like meeting someone who used to make buggy whips.

It's a bit mind-boggling, isn't it? But there are lots of people in the world who are living the way that people in the First World did in the past - whether we're talking 20 years ago or 200 years ago. I saw plenty of horse-drawn carts in towns, and in the market you had to take a box to put your eggs in if you wanted to buy eggs, and you bought your chicken still alive and had to pull its head off yourself. In towns life was much like the UK in the 40s or 50s. I was in the gorgeous little medieval town of Brasov the day after a McDonalds opened there (in the outskirts of the town, praise the lord, because it didn't get planning permission for the beautiful old square in the centre). People were driving in from far and wide. There was a party atmosphere. We saw a young bride and groom, still in their wedding gear, who had come with the best man to treat themselves to a McDonalds Milkshake as part of their Big Day. I got talking to one lad about it all,and he had mixed feelings about McDonalds, but he said that it felt like being able to go to America. And he knew he couldn't afford to go to America for real, but this felt like being able to do that, because it all looked like the McDonalds restaurants you saw on TV and the burgers were the same. It wasn't something people could afford to do except for a special occasion, or if they were very rich, but it was pretty exciting.

Thing is, my own travels are very limited - I haven't been further afield than Eastern Europe (and North America). Sounds like Jim's seen some much more strikingly different cultures. And KateP will have seem all manner of wildly different places too in her travels lately. But you have to go a bloody long way to find somewhere that Coca Cola (and other icons of Americana) hasn't reached. I've never seen anywhere. From my own limited travels, though, I've really gained a different perspective on what "normal" is, in terms of material possessions and world picture and all that. The vast majority of people in the world don't have the everyday things that the First World takes for granted - and this isn't said in a spirit of "Oh, poor deprived them," because not being in the First World doesn't equate with living in misery. I mean, it definitely can do, but it's way more complicated than that.

...er, why yes, I do like to state the obvious. Um.

I'm nervous about some "patriotic" cowboy being nasty to him

Oh dear. Fingers crossed.