imoen wrote: aww, I love Ken! Thanks for making me giggle Steven. Me too - Ken's a wonderful triumph of enthusiasm over raw talent. Think of it as a belated birthday present. Hmm, now I sound about as generous as those Americans with their mineral water!
Count Zero wrote: lol, i havent too much experience with americans, but when i was in florida a few decembers ago i was aksed if we celebrate christmas in england it was by a shop counter girl, had to try so hard to not to burst out laughing in her face. That's good, I imagine she'd been told we're a heathen country.
Not as good as my Dad though. Whenever we had exchange students or friends from other countries visiting while we were younger, "Do you have/do/celebrate whatever in your country" was his preferred way of getting the conversation going.
Nothing as inane as the question you were asked obviously, but his all-time classic question is still remembered today, not least by the Canadian girl who got asked it, and who by some miracle I'm still in touch with 20 years later.
We were sitting having lunch one day and from where we were sitting, you could see a nesting box in the garden in which a family of small birds had made their home.
All was calm until with a sudden spark of inspiration, my Dad looks the Canadian girl straight in the eye and asks:
"Do you get blue tits in Canada?"
Never in my life have I seen anyone looked so shocked as, having never come across the feathered version before (even though they do 'get' them in Canada), she took it to be a question about the effect of those freezing cold Canadian winters on her anatomy.
Sheddie (for one) will know what I mean when I say that the fact that the poor girl bore a passing resemblance to Emily Webley-Smith just added to the comic effect.
Needless to say, my Dad went just as red as she did, while the rest of us just laughed until we cried.
-- Edited by steven at 00:02, 2007-04-13
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GB on a shirt, Davis Cup still gleaming, 79 years of hurt, never stopped us dreaming ... 29/11/2015 that dream came true!
lol, i havent too much experience with americans, but when i was in florida a few decembers ago i was aksed if we celebrate christmas in england it was by a shop counter girl, had to try so hard to not to burst out laughing in her face.
in 1 resturant they were also stunned when a few of asked for bottled mineral water. the waiter came back and said they only had 1 half a litre bottle and would we like to share.
-- Edited by Count Zero at 23:08, 2007-04-12
My favourite was when speaking to some Americans in Philladelphia they asked if I was from Scotland, siad no so they asked if I was Irish, said no so they asked if I was Australian. When said no again they asked where I was from said England. They then proceeded to say; 'Oh speak some English'!!!!!! Didnt realise I was speaking another language before then!
lol I used to be in the navy and we had a function in Italy where I had to wait on officers. Not the best fun but the night was brightened by a conversation with one of the american sailors. Not being rude, but he wasnt the sharpest tool in the box.
This question has to be better than the "do you celebrate christmas" one as far as inane chat goes. His question was "so do you get terrorists in england then". I said umm yeah we have threats from al quaeida same as your country. Also, the IRA used to be a problem, there were a few attacks in London.
He said oh, the IRA where are they from. "Ireland" I replied. Eyes of recognition lit up. "ah ireland, yeah that's just above Britain isn't it" Hmmmm
He then asked if we were in Europe. He was made up when I told him we were. "Wow, I've never been to europe before."
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Of all tyrannies a tyranny exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive.... those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience
I spoke to Alex after yesterday's win against Rehnquist, he said "It was a tough match, so windy here which makes it tough to control the ball. It lasted nearly 3 hours so felt good to win ! It's a tricky match tomorrow but we'll see how it goes."
It was a great win imo as although Rehnquist is only ranked 412, he's a very experienced player, a lot, lot better than that ranking. He beat Josh Goodall earlier this year and has been top 150 in the past. Rehnquist is a counter-puncher, moves well around the court and just gets loads of balls back...he can scurry round the baseline all day long. Tough guy to beat in windy conditions because Alex would have had to play pretty aggressive to win and really go for his shots. He struggled against that type of player in the past so good to see him coming through. Also, good to see him winning such a long match, shows that his fitness is improving !
Gonna be tough tonight, Reynolds is on form...made the semis in Talla last week and knocked out 6th seed 7-6, 7-6 yesterday. Having beaten Boggo just last week, he'll be really pumped for this and fancying his chances. Alex is ranked something like 60 places higher but paper only tells half the story.
Btw, check out the britishtennis.net homepage, Boggo sent me several photos of him in action in Talla last week...I've put one of them up with my Boggo article
Some classic stories here ! I've been crying with laughter reading these especially steven's one, that is just quality...poor girl...how many slaps did she give u all ?
Maybe I should use that as my chat up line when I next get the chance to speak to Webley-Smith, "do you get blue tits during your winter training ?"
Here's another funny one which Naomi Cavaday told me, from her USA tour over the past month. Her coach Jeremy Bates went and bought a diet coke from a garage and the women at the check-out said "Will that do it for you ?" Bates replied "do what exactly ?"
They were in a restaurant one evening and a waitress asked 'where are y'all from? you guys have cute accents!' Naomi said london in england and the lady got all excited and proud of herself and said 'oohh i know what countries are near there...scotland... ireland...' and then she struggled so Naomi said there's one more and the lady said 'oh! i've got it !..............russia !"
and then batesy kept a straight face and said "i think you'll find its wales." and she said 'Wales... isn't that near thailand?'