THE MYSTERIOUS SOUTH

[nim]

the idea of the south always conjures up rocking chairs on porches, shutters on windows, big old willow trees, long empty roads and space - shit lodas of wide open space.

actually i went travelling in new zealand and Australia and i kind of imagine it similar to the isolated parts where it's a little lost in time? not the same lanscape though........

[telluah]

sorry if i offened anyone about the gross comment, i have no excuses except for the fact the california high school systems basically teach that the civil war ended the turmoil of slavery, yet racism is still very much present in the south (i know- racism can be found anywhere). in no way am i putting southerners down. i love you all- peace out

[Tanner]

well. a lot of texas is what you guys describe I live in the 5th largest city in the US. So the cities are filled with cars, lots tall buildings, metro buses, a huge downtown area, some of the top medical facilites in the nation (probably world).





but travel a couple ours and you are out in the country with mothing to do.

[gatorh3]

telluah said:

sorry if i offened anyone about the gross comment, i have no excuses except for the fact the california high school systems basically teach that the civil war ended the turmoil of slavery, yet racism is still very much present in the south (i know- racism can be found anywhere). in no way am i putting southerners down. i love you all- peace out

no harm done, I'm glad that we got things cleared up.

[sarah]

i think of elvis, country, blues, jazz, barbeque, ann rice and tennessee williams when i think of southern america. i think i have a really romanticised view of places like new orleans and memphis so i'd really love to go to see what they're properly like.

[sarah]

polly said:

acantwell said:

If it rains a bit in London they say the whole country is knee deep in rain and we're all going to drown. When in reality North of Watford has a tropical heatwave. (Not a regular accurance but when it happens its funny)

that happened last week! my mum was going on and on about it lol. it's funny when people call birmingham 'the north' i get pissed off when they call manchester northern! i think it's because newcastle is properly northern. i used to hate it here but i think working for a local newspaper has opened my eyes a bit - i really love it now [sorry this is completely off topic] x

[caroline, maybe]

sarah said:

i think of elvis, country, blues, jazz, barbeque, ann rice and tennessee williams when i think of southern america. i think i have a really romanticised view of places like new orleans and memphis so i'd really love to go to see what they're properly like.

I love New Orleans!! and I'm so scared that after Hurricane Katrina hits tmrw morning, there isn't going to be a New Orleans anymore!!!

[Tanner]

goldenfallingheart said:

sarah said:

i think of elvis, country, blues, jazz, barbeque, ann rice and tennessee williams when i think of southern america. i think i have a really romanticised view of places like new orleans and memphis so i'd really love to go to see what they're properly like.

I love New Orleans!! and I'm so scared that after Hurricane Katrina hits tmrw morning, there isn't going to be a New Orleans anymore!!!

actually that place is already below sea level and will be gone soon. how soon I don't know but it is sooner than you would think(not 5 years or anything).

EDIT :found this on one of those online science catalogs for school-

The upshot is that New Orleans has been sinking as much as 3 ft. a century. That's bad news for a city that is already an average of 8 ft. below sea level. Making things worse: sea levels worldwide are rising as much as 3 ft. a century on account of global warming. The lower New Orleans plunges, the worse it will be when the big one hits.

New Orleans' other major man-made problem is that its wetlands and its low-lying barrier islands are disappearing. The Louisiana coast is losing 16,000 acres of wetland each year, mostly as a result of population expansion into once pristine areas, destructive oil and gas drilling, pollution and land loss through lack of sedimentation. As it turns out, wetlands and barrier islands aren't just nice to look at; they are also a key natural barrier to hurricanes. (Every 2.7 miles of wetland absorbs a foot of storm surge.) As the wetlands go, the chance of a hurricane blowing the city away grows

fascinating.

[Porcelain]

i think of kfc

[caroline, maybe]

jaredlovesu said:

goldenfallingheart said:

I love New Orleans!! and I'm so scared that after Hurricane Katrina hits tmrw morning, there isn't going to be a New Orleans anymore!!!

actually that place is already below sea level and will be gone soon. how soon I don't know but it is sooner than you would think(not 5 years or anything).

EDIT :found this on one of those online science catalogs for school-

The upshot is that New Orleans has been sinking as much as 3 ft. a century. That's bad news for a city that is already an average of 8 ft. below sea level. Making things worse: sea levels worldwide are rising as much as 3 ft. a century on account of global warming. The lower New Orleans plunges, the worse it will be when the big one hits.

New Orleans' other major man-made problem is that its wetlands and its low-lying barrier islands are disappearing. The Louisiana coast is losing 16,000 acres of wetland each year, mostly as a result of population expansion into once pristine areas, destructive oil and gas drilling, pollution and land loss through lack of sedimentation. As it turns out, wetlands and barrier islands aren't just nice to look at; they are also a key natural barrier to hurricanes. (Every 2.7 miles of wetland absorbs a foot of storm surge.) As the wetlands go, the chance of a hurricane blowing the city away grows

fascinating.

yeah, thanks, it's really interesting.

I knew it was below sea level, but it's still so depressing to think that beautiful buildings hundreds of years old might be washed away tmrw.

[Tanner]

A ton of people are heading here to get away from the hurricane. my mom's coworkers from New Orleans just got here. all the hotels are booked up. I hope the categorey five hurricane doesn't destroy the city. I was planning to go there for spring break, and because it is bad for all the people who live there.

[dancingfeather]

sarah said:

i think of elvis, country, blues, jazz, barbeque, ann rice and tennessee williams when i think of southern america. i think i have a really romanticised view of places like new orleans and memphis so i'd really love to go to see what they're properly like.

Also peanuts in Coke, spanish moss and kudzu, sweet tea, mint juleps and whiskey, and lightning bugs-I love living here in the south cause people are also friendlier here and winters aren't too cold.

[lmd88]

Isn't there gonna be a semi-tsunami there? Eek, that's scary. I'm thinking...day after tomorrow? I hope not though.

[dancingfeather]

I love the pharmacy museum in NO in the French Quarter. It was the first pharmacy in the US and that's where surgeons get the leeches from they use in major surgeries. There's a lot of old bottles and big pot pipes and cool stuff there and it's also haunted by an old Dr who performed abortions on unwilling women and buried them between the walls (NO JOKE-an employee there told me so)!

[Tanner]

New Orleans is such a fun city. so much there. My mom jokingly aske if I wanted to go to Mardi Gra with her if the city survives. I said yes so we will see.

but I have been there once but didn't really get to do much. I will be 18 and be able to see more in the spring. I hope the city is all right. I will probably stay away from that pharmacy.

[caroline, maybe]

jaredlovesu said:

New Orleans is such a fun city. so much there. My mom jokingly aske if I wanted to go to Mardi Gra with her if the city survives. I said yes so we will see.

but I have been there once but didn't really get to do much. I will be 18 and be able to see more in the spring. I hope the city is all right. I will probably stay away from that pharmacy.

haha my brother lived in New Orleans for a few yrs, so my mom and I went to visit him pretty often - I have plenty of memories of being 7 or 8 and my mom making me cover my eyes while we walked down Bourbon Street (of course, I wasn't really covering my eyes... )

[AccuratePassion]

Hurricanes are scary. I didn't know it was that serious. It seriously is "going to wipe out the city"? Or is it just going to cause a lot of damage?

[caroline, maybe]

The last category 1 hurricane in Florida killed six people. Katrina is a category 5. they built a levy to protect New Orleans years ago, but when it was built, everyone knew that if it sustained a direct hit (which is what this will be) it would break. and considering that New Orleans is already underwater... it's looking pretty grim. plus who knows, with winds of 200 mph, combined with the water... if the hurricane doesn't destroy the buildings (as in the old ones) themselves, it will probably destroy the mortar... which would mean they'd crumble anyway.

[AccuratePassion]

Are you serious!? Omg. its like something out of a sci-fi movie. That is horrible. So everyone is pretty much leaving that area? I should watch the news.

[Dotty]

nim said:

the idea of the south always conjures up rocking chairs on porches, shutters on windows, big old willow trees, long empty roads and space - shit lodas of wide open space.

actually i went travelling in new zealand and Australia and i kind of imagine it similar to the isolated parts where it's a little lost in time? not the same lanscape though........

Melbourne, Australia.