My food is problematic.

River ,'The Message'


All Ogle, No Cash -- It's Not Just Annoying, It's Un-American

Discussion of episodes currently airing in Un-American locations (anything that's aired in Australia is fair game), as well as anything else the Un-Americans feel like talking about or we feel like asking them. Please use the show discussion threads for any current-season discussion.

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Ms. Havisham - Apr 14, 2003 9:01:18 pm PDT #3585 of 9843
And we will call it... "This Land."

drive-by...

In DC, they keep talking about a theoretical "purple line" (all our lines are by color), that would connect the outer edges of the other lines together. But I think it'll never get built.

I don't think it will either, mostly because I'm not sure how they can get from Bethesda to College Park to New Carrolton without running straight through the University. The campus is freakishly huge. Not to mention the world's oldest airport, which is right next to the College Park station. (The Wright Brothers showed their newfangled contraption to the Army, there. Also the site of the first fatal airplane crash.)

Considering I grew up in a rural area with no public transport at all, I appreciate the Metro quite a bit. Traffic in DC can be pretty stunningly bad, so I was commuting by train for a couple years solid. I kind of miss the reading/thinking/peoplewatching time.


billytea - Apr 14, 2003 11:22:44 pm PDT #3586 of 9843
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.

So, how do people get to the zoo in London? Or, um, I don't know, Barcelona? Kiev? Sydney?

Sydney's is pretty cool. Aside from just driving there, or taking the bus (I assume this works well enough - never actually tried it), you can also take a ferry from Circular Quay across the harbour, with views of the Bridge and Opera House, that deposits you directly at the Taronga Park Zoo entrance. There are joint ferry-zoo tickets available. Quite possibly the best zooward journey in the world. (Melbourne Zoo is a better zoo, they have more space an' all, but Taronga's done a decent job of renovating. Still a few concrete-and-straw enclosures left, though, which is distressing.)


evil jimi - Apr 15, 2003 2:50:54 am PDT #3587 of 9843
Lurching from one disaster to the next.

The Adelaide Zoo is on the edge of the city and getting there is dead easy. Buses stop right outside, or if you catch the train into Adelaide, it's a pleasant walk along the banks of the River Torrens, or you can grab a ride on one of the "Popeye" ferries.


Jim - Apr 15, 2003 3:00:00 am PDT #3588 of 9843
Ficht nicht mit Der Raketemensch!

London Zoo is in Regent's Park. You can walk there, or take the tube.


Zoe Ann - Apr 15, 2003 3:07:04 am PDT #3589 of 9843
Mathair & Athair beo.

Sounds like a song lyric.

I read a Heinlein book once where the entire human race faced annihilation because aliens found Zoos offensive - I tend to agree.


Jim - Apr 15, 2003 3:15:55 am PDT #3590 of 9843
Ficht nicht mit Der Raketemensch!

Well, not all zoos. Some preserve species that no longer have a "natural" habitat, and do so in very good conditions. Others are hideous.


Zoe Ann - Apr 15, 2003 3:30:30 am PDT #3591 of 9843
Mathair & Athair beo.

Which is good, but can only be an intermin measure while restoring the natural habitat. I like the thought parks and reserves better.


Jim - Apr 15, 2003 3:41:16 am PDT #3592 of 9843
Ficht nicht mit Der Raketemensch!

You can't restore a natural habitat. Once it's gone, it's gone. You can create an artificial one, but there's little chance of that for most endangered species. Sadly, zoos are the closest we have to an ark.


Zoe Ann - Apr 15, 2003 3:49:36 am PDT #3593 of 9843
Mathair & Athair beo.

Natural habitat is self regenerating but it needs to be left to seed and grow which is going to take many centuries. Reforestation schemes are and example by replanting the original flora identifying the area as a preserve or trust area the hope is that by the turn of the next millenium some of the natural canopy will have regenerated and provide homes for native fauna. Creating clean water environments for native fish stocks are another example.

It's not much but it is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to our survival.


evil jimi - Apr 15, 2003 3:55:06 am PDT #3594 of 9843
Lurching from one disaster to the next.

South Australia also has the Monarto Zoological Park, which is a 1,000 hectare park about 70km south-east of Adelaide.

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