This is kind of going out on a limb, but I was thinking today about how great and cool the secret santa thing was, and how neat it is that everyone on these forums are so spread out. And how there are piles and piles of things that I'd love to see on this planet that I am simply too far away from to see--and that I'm always too busy or too dumb to go see the cool things near me. But wouldn't it be cool if someone from the forums could challenge me to go see something within, say, a twenty-or-thirty mile radius, and then describe it in here? We could do a head-to-head style gladiator battle between two people who both have a mission to go see a cool thing near them, where the person who tells the best story about going to see that thing wins.

What is a cool thing? I think the Jello Museum in LeRoy, NY (near Rochester) is a cool thing. The Bronx Zoo at night in the winter is also a cool thing. The Salvator Dali museum in St. Petersburg, FL is a cool thing. The biggest lightbulb in the world, in Edison, NJ is a strange thing. Going to a salsa party in London would be a very peculiar thing indeed.

Is this a dumb idea, Matazone? I think it could be pretty awesome. Thoughts?

Hmm, that has potential, although people will generally know what are the cool things that are near them better than people on the other side of the world will.

Also, it is worth mentioning the adage:

In America 100 years is a long time, in Britain 100 miles is a long way.

20-30 miles is halfway across the country! Well, not quite, but it is enormous and we pack a lot into that space, which bodes well because it should mean that we all have some place cool near us that we can share. Frankly, I've got no idea what's good in Guildford, but I shall put some thought into this and see if I can find something good to report on.

Well, I do lots of fun things because I am wonderful. Yes indeedy

Most of the fun awesome things I do are with these chaps- although I guess they are more activities rather than events. London really is a wonderful place to live if you have spare time and a little spare cash on your hands, what with free parties with live bands and DJs in old warehouses, SantaCon- we missed it this year >:( and we also joined Critical Mass for the summer solstice 2007. We cycled from Brixton (SW9), to Bricklane (E1) to Soho (W1) to Regent's Park to watch the sun come up from Primrose Hill.

Elphaba, I thought you were going to challenge us to things to do with energy and/or water saving, as per your family's gift to you for Christmas with the bucket showers.

That's an awesome idea! And I'm totally in! Well, if I get a reasonable place that either a) appropriate for my mom to drive me to close enough to bike to.

Yeah, but any cool Orlando stuff you guys wanna know about, I'm totally in for!

We should also take pictures!

I'm in for this one.

On another thought, it'd also be cool for each person to simply go on an adventure around where they live, taking pictures and such as izzy suggested.

I'd be interesting to see what people of different cultures and ages do for fun, where they go, what those places look like. I, for example, live near Amarillo, the home of the Cadilliac ranch. There are also things I consider completely normal that may seem bizzare to people from other areas - tumbleweeds interrupting your way to your next class, Praire dog infestations, dust storms, dry thunder, ect.

But yeah, whatever we decide on, I'm up for it.

^ A bit like when someone (I'm so sorry, I cannot remember who) documented their day in pictures? That would be nice.

I would be interested in this too. Living near London, there is always more to discover!

Great idea. But I can't go to certain places at certain times.

Describe Parkers piece: Um... big... green... field.

Also send me somewhere when the weathers nice. Don't send me to an outdoor swimming pool in Winter.

Sounds cool, actually when I was home did take some pictures of somethings in my hometown (area) they are mostly our industrial ruins, if you will and then our sad downtown. Other than that I have tons of pictures of Chicago and recently I went to Springfield, IL.

This sounds pretty awesome, there isn't that much fun stuff near me, but I'm sure something can be found for me to go and see/do. Although I do agree with Mata, 30 miles is a long way for those of us who can't drive, possibly there are closer cool things?



*holds up hand* I thought this as well. Am relieved it's a much cooler idea instead.

Hey! That is a pretty cool thing for us to be asked to do, so "no dissin'"

The idea of us all documenting our day/ a day in photos sounds like fun.

Sounds like a really cool idea and I think what'd make it interesting is if someone picked where they wanted you to go (which I think is what elphaba ment) that way it's not nessaccarily some where you'd normaly think about going.

*pokes Daria*

Beccles! We could do a cultural tour of London!

Cos, y'know, London is full of cultcher. And America BLATANTLY doesn't have anywhere near so awesome as Camden

My day - wakes at midday - washes etc - sits at computer - sits at computer - makes food - sits at computer... I think I would definitely have to pick a more interesting one to document!

Pfft, we just need to take the Number 3 bus from Oxford Street to Crystal Palace and do the most amount of sightseeing you will ever do on the bus. I sometimes miss living in Brixto-... Hmm. I sometimes miss taking the number 3.
Jen, we should go explore the greenway behind my haus. It's a raised sewer. Yeah! *jazzhands*
We could also explore the many un-used parts of the underground system (sneaking in via that old padlocked up door in Shoreditch).
Or we could just go to Leon again



My day- wakes at 5 to 9. Picks up computer, starts work at 9am. Gets out of bed at 1pmish, gets dressed (perhaps), eats something. Picks up post cats have inevitably pissed on, sighs at mess in kitchen. Goes back to bed with food, continues to work until about 5pmish. Does stuff in evening. Sleep.

Go go working from home!

If you take the no.10 Becky that takes you all the way to Hammersmith from Oxford Street and you go past LOADS of places

Oh and day so far - woke up watch tv and a video, got up, sat at computer,had lunch with parentals, sat back at computer, did some work of GA secret santa pressie (yes I'm still crap) whilst still at computer and thinks about getting dressed at some point.

Are we having someone else pick what they want to see near us and documenting it for them, or just picking something ourselves and documenting it? I'm not really sure where I'd go, to be honest, but could probably find something interesting. Derbyshire has to have something at least a little more exciting than well dressing, right?

Huh. The East Midlands Tourist Board claims that Leicestershire attracts 32 million visitors per year. They couldn't have all gotten lost, could they? At least a few of them had to go there on purpose.

Documenting my day wouldn't be very interesting, sadly. Especially right now, since I was ill during most of December and it's continuing into January. There would be lots of shots of used tissues, and no one wants to see that.

I'm at least four of those 32 million, cand, my extended family live in Leicester, and my best mate goes to Uni there. Maybe they're all that kind of visitor

The number ten goes near my man's house Score.

Yeah raised sewer systems! *jazzhands* Speaking of breaking into the underground, am I the only one who wants to get a pair of bolt cutters and go roller blading down the South Ken subway when it's all locked up and empty at night?

Well perhaps if there's nothing exciting in your town - you could make it exciting.

For example, let's say that the only thing to do in your town (like in mine) is to cat-call old men as you drive by them. Document it, make a day of it, note their reactions. Ask people dumb questions and write down their awkward answers, and if a place doesn't have an interesting history, make it up.

Seriously though, I think anything can be made interesting. My town is extremely boring - literally the only thing for teenagers to do here besides go to school is to hang out at the Hastings. And they'll eventually kick you out. So for those of you who are past the days of ammusing yourself as a teenager, why not revisit them? Go out to your town, and think - if you were about 15 years old, there were no parties, and you had to ammuse yourself for the day, what would you do?

Okay so I pretty much rambled a lot, there. But I think I got my point across, yeah?

I stopped by here on a usual Tour of the Internets, and had accumulated many tabs, and then I closed all of them but the well-dressing site and had no idea where it came from and sat at my computer laughing for about ten minutes. What a goofy custom.

So--yes, my plan was to find a Thing near somebody else and challenge them to do the legwork and go see it. Like the---augh--the corpse flower in London. Aware as I am that going to the Botanic Gardens may be somewhat miserable and require much wading through tourists (probably kinda MoMa-y), if I were to challenge someone in the general London area to go smell that stinky beast (when it opens up again) then the challenge would probably involve costumes. Or thousands of tiny monkeys. Or something equally fun. But maybe the only people who need challenges are the ones who need to be periodically poked in the ass? I think it would be just as great and cool and awesome if people posted photos of a Cool Thing without someone halfway across the world saying "hey go do this".

(How many people were relieved that I did not start Scolding about Waste? I am a little sad that I am a Scolder now, but it's all good. I can work with this.)

Also--jesus, Brits! 20-30 miles is less than an hour. Whiny kids. Be glad I'm not telling you to go to France.

The gardens in Kew? I live right near them, yet haven't been in a long, long time. I will happily take a camera and be a tourist for you as it is a lovely day out, especially to see this 'corpse flower'? Assuming that you are referring to Kew Gardens, I feel a little guilty that I don't know what it is considering how near I live to them but oh well.

Hehe. What do you expect from people who go around calling one another "duck"?

20-30 miles is an acceptable distance for me, as long as I can get there by public transport since I don't drive. If someone else wants to choose something they'd like me to record for them, here is a map of the UK counties. Any of the counties bordering Derbyshire would be fine.

Yes, those are the ones. The corpse flower is really gross. It only flowers once or twice a year, and it smells like corpses when it does. It's also really big; the biggest lily, I think, in the world. It flowered in Kew a month ago, or so Google has been telling me. But I bet the Gardens are really pretty even without the smell of something rotting hovering over all the shrubbery. Therefore I challenge you to go be a tourist! Effective whenever it is nice out!

Gang, we have our first challenge.

Feel free to send me around Westchester County and/or New York, anybody who can think of a Cool Thing, (map) but I like especially the left hand side as it is easy to access by train.

Wahoo!

I'll see if I can come up with some other challenges tonight for the other people who are in.

Well, if you want one, then go find and photograph five of the space invaders (or their scores)!
http://www.space-invaders.com/nysom.html

EDIT: Actually, that might be really tricky, feel free to say no!

Man I can't think of anything I haven't hit up on my trips, I mean other than explorering neighborhoods, but I wouldn't want you to end up in a bad neighborhood(being a bad neighborhood doesn't deter me from explorering them) of course you would know more about them than I would, lol. I would really like to explore parts of Alphabet City (I believe the new gentified name is East Village, you know so it doesn't scare the yuppies off, lol.) or any neighborhood in lower Manahattan The Village, SOHO, Tribeca, and then parts of Harlem. When I was there a few weeks ago I was on 145th St and Amsterdam Ave area, I just thought a place thinking of Harlem, the Apollo Theater, was thinking it would be cool to see after I ran across it on TV. Perhaps in April or May area I will send you on a housing hunt for me, lol, as I think even if I don't get the internship I may live in NYC for the summer, I already have a friend who wants to sublease my apartment in Chicago and I could just transfer to Niketown NY.

Sounds like a day when I have nothing to do, lol otherwise it's
Wake 30 mins after I should have - shower - run out the door without eating - Grab newspaper - run for the train - run from the station to work or school - probably be slightly late (hehe) - come home - watch TV, eat, and surf the web. On a good night I will hang out with friends, but during the semester everyone gets busy and then during break everyone goes back to their hometowns, lol.

Anyway long post, so feel free to send me around Chicago, I don't have a car when I'm in the City but if you wish to see the exciting sights of Central Illinois let me know and I can do it when I'm visiting back home. Like when the new Batman movie comes out feel free to send me on a mission to go to as many places where they shot as possible. Some of the interiors would be hard though, the place they used for the "Gatham City Bank" and "Gotham Police Station" is the former main Post Office in Chicago, not only is it a Federal building (you know the homeland security thing) it's sealed pretty tight. I also could try and find someone who worked on the set that could probably give me some kind of list of places or just IMDB it or something.

Actually, getting to France is easier for me than... say... getting to Birmingham. One tube and one train, as opposed to two tubes

Cath, I think I will explore the number 10!

Actually, I would love to spend a day on the buses, numerically. I know people who have done it, and I have frowned upon them for wasting a day on public transport- but I wonder if I can do it without being lost in Sidcup or Penge or something!

Go to Penge! With a name like that it simply must be exciting!

I've always said the same thing!

Where should I go? You guys are totally lame if you say Sea World or Disney or something.

No, neither of those places, Izzy. Hmm. Go somewhere that most tourists don't know about, but is awesome.

Alternatively, if you can't think of anywhere like that...wear a funny hat and try to get 5 stereotypical looking tourists to take a photo with you. Bonus points for socks with sandals and Gilligan hats!

Sorry, the only things I think of when I think of Florida are silly looking tourists.... I don't see many where I live...all the goofy American tourists tend to go to London.

Yeah. Thanks.
You know, Spanish tourists are the worst.

Can't stand Spanish tourists that ask for directions... in Spanish.

I'll try to do both! My mom works tomorrow, so I'll call up Eli and see if he wants to come.

I've been to Penge! I know people from there... terribly exciting!

Whoever said 30 miles is an hour is greatly guestimating. It takes me almost an hour to drive 22 miles to Cromer when I have to work there but if I was going in the other direction I could get 30 miles in 30 mins!

Anyway, I'm up for it... if anyone wants me to go to the Norfolk Broads or somewhere else not too far from Norwich (the buses lead me to believe that there is a dinosaur park a few miles outside the city) I will be pleased to oblige.

I could try and go somewhere someone wants to know about in Ireland, but try to keep it in The North or Dublin so I can get a bus =] Open to suggestions.

I've just thought, the most awesome place near(ish) me is the Monkey Forest!

But it's closed for winter until February

I'll totally go there after that though, 'cos I've never been.

¿Qué manera está al disneyland?*

* Which way is it to disneyland?

!!!!!!


Et Daria, trente miles n'est pas plus qu'une heure ici, où les rues sont normales. Ils sont souvent moins de quarante minutes.

Bien, les rues des Britons doivent être fou.

Alright, give me a challenge.


Anything within the little blue borders is within my reach, although staying in Randall/potter county would be most convieniant
(I would also like to take this time to point out the awesome county names we have around here. "Glasscock"?)

Many a happy birthday was spent in that dinosaur park. Aww, I've got huge nostalgia now.

Also, go to Stiffkey! Or Wells-Next-The-Sea! Stiffkey has a wonderful campsite run by really delightful people who charge you per tent, not per pitch space, and mud-flats and exceptionally good fish and chips. Wells has sand. Lots of it. And a MINI TRAIN! And steam trains an-... I'm not a train geek. Shutup.


El Fab- Si on peut venir en Angleterre, je tu montrerai autour. PUIS tu vais savoir les differences entre les Etats Unis et Grande Bretagne en ce qui concerne la distance et le temps ! Ausis, vos routes sont meilleures que le nôtre, et plus moins venteuses.

Go on I-4 and stand under one of the bridges at night. The entrance is in the front of a semi-truck, so you have to let one hit you. Once hit, you can stay in Disney for free, as long as you want!

Bye bye tourist.

That's so evil, direct them to walk into the sea and keep going.

Doesn't Kew Gardens have it's own tube stop wayyy at the end of the Distirct line? I have to go check now...

I've been there, when I was little. It's quite a nice place.

edit: I'm so right. I could potentially get there too.

This sounds like fun. I'm sure I could find interesting stuff near me to take photos of, although 20-30 miles is a bit too far for me to walk so anything that's far away will have to be near a train station.

voices, I am attempting to find something for you to do. I don't know much about that area, so I will have to research it a bit. So far the most exciting thing I've found is a prairie dog town walking trail at the Buffalo Lake national wildlife refuge. Prairie dogs are cute and all, but I've seen them before. Hmmm. I will keep looking. Or maybe someone else will pop up with a good idea!

CM -- Monkey forest? That is freaking awesome.

Hmm. I am still at a loss for what I should do, but I'm searching.

Edit: Oho. This is a possibilty for moop and I. Looks interesting, though rather touristy.

Voices, how far are you from Houston?

I've been there it is cool! Free roaming monkey's and all.

About 12 hours.

Texas is a lot bigger than it looks. All of the cool towns (San antonio, El paso, Dallas, Houston, Austin) are far from my reach - 5 hours at the shortest. So yeah....

I suppose you're lucky, because I was going to assign you the fun but unfair task of finding this guy I know that just moved there, and taking him cool places and taking pictures. Which would have been awesome, but incredibly difficult!

Well, let me just get my urban exploring gear together!

I'm in, I guess Only I'm not near anything exciting.

Voices! I found something I want you to see for me.

The Cadillac Ranch. Apparently graffiti on the cars is encouraged. Write something awesome!

Is anyone in Nebraska? They aren't, are they? No one to see Carhenge for me.

That looks fun.