Drink Drive.

This -is- Texas you're talking about. Veritable hotbed of reactionary fundamentalists.

And that's a fact, because she happened to work for a Govt Dept who collated data on Reactionary Fundamentalists from Texas, for five minutes in 1992.

Very few people cause automobile accidents when driving while fat, unless they are also drunk or on drugs or asleep.

Texas is just plain weird at times. I think we are moving closer to a 1984 style regime each year.

Ice! How are you? We haven't shared a drink for ..... well, too long. While agreeing that Texas is weird at times, I have to disagree with the sentiment (everywhere is weird "at times") and stick up for a fantastic state. Dallas is one of the cleanest cities in the States, Fort Worth is just loads of fun and there are some cracking coastal areas and beaches in Texas. It would be easy for people who've never even been to Texas to be swayed by generalisations and - believe it or not - form opinions on a place they've never actually visited or experienced.

Okay, I wasn't going to say anything, on account of the fact that I usually can't be arsed, but Celery's response to Archer brings up a tangential issue which was raised in the smoking ban thread... Stop digging at Archergirl! She may not always put things the right way, but hell, how many of us get things wrong on that score every now and then? (I concede to being included in that, by the way, with, for example, my comparison of smoking with murder... which set the whole thing off!) She seems to have some intelligence and she tries, where possible, to back up her arguments (on the smoking ban or whatever) with facts and evidence that she knows/ought to know what she is talking about, on account of where she works/has worked. Seems to me like a bit of Tall Poppy Syndrome going on here! (not that Archergirl is tall (maybe) or a poppy (probably), but you know what I mean) Anyway, there we are, I've said my piece - I don't want to, like, marry the girl or owt, but she does seem to get a bit of a bad press... and I stand in her defence! So there. :-) * P * :-)

Ta, Styx! Like I said, Tall Poppy Syndrome... I just hate to witness what seems to be a very British syndrome of belittling intelligence - which, whatever else one may think about her, Archergirl seems to have. *** nervously awaits backlash *** (PS. 'ang on, are you saying Celery Soup = Jasper?) :-) * P * :-)

Karl – it’s nice for you to stick up for TX, but I’m going to politely disagree – I think it’s a deplorable state, Dallas being one of the most unoriginal cities I’ve ever visited – and sadly, lived in. It was a ten month period that had me fleeing not only the city, not only the state, but the entire country! It was two years before I had the courage to come back, settling far, far away from that place. I will grant you that if one visited for a weekend, they would probably leave thinking, “what a cool place.” Any longer than that, it wears on you…unless, of course, you happen to be a Texan! Again, this is just a polite disagreement, based on my own personal experience. Foster.

styx, celery=jasper?....rubbish, did you ever actually read any of jaspers posts? Pepsoid, looking at the other thread the argument seems to have died down, (as they always seem to do) why you stirring it up again? Let sleeping dogs lie I say. If you need something to do write some stationary 50 worders or set another challenge.

Hmm... much as we all know Texas is the backward, boss-eyed, idiot brother of North America, I think if I lived in a place where owning a pistol-grip shotgun and having the mental capacity of a stoat was de rigeur, I'd feel safer with all the drunkest people behind bars. Oh, and, though the best policy is usually to scrupulously avoid attention seekers like celery soup, just thought I'd add: shut up, cs, you craven fuckwit.

>>> Let sleeping dogs lie I say. ...couldn't agree more, Curious! That smoking debate was a monster. In light of Celery's comment above, however, I just felt I had to defend Archergirl - in a general sense, rather than specifically on her views in THAT thread. Stationery-related 50-worder coming soon! :-) * P * :-)

I found some of celery soup's comments to be quite funny, but not nearly as funny as the fallout. At least s/he was clever, which is more than I can say about the recipient.

How do we know you aren't just another incarnation of Celery as you seem to have the same confusion between clever and cutting?

There are as many senses of humour as there are personalities. As with most things, what one finds clever, another may find to be cutting – even though it's the very same thing. Perspective makes all the difference. Yes, there was a malicious tint to some of Celery’s comments, but were they altogether misplaced? AG’s “friends” would say yes, while her "opponents" would say no – it really does all depend on perspective.

Rascal, I think that most would agree that it was cutting - whether or not their perspective deemed it was clever or funny - and this site has worked very hard to escape from the wars that such comments always eventually engender.

Foster, Good points, and its impossible to disagree with your point of view because it's your point of view, and extremely valuable because you've actually lived and worked there. One man's meat etc. It's interesting how one person can find a place, not necessarily Texas but anywhere - Brixton, Edinburgh, Lisbon, Kenya - agreeable while another can't stand it. I guess it really comes down to the experiences you enjoyed (or didn't) while there. My sister lives in Grapevine, between Dallas and Fort Worth, on the North side, and it's likely that on the many occassions we've visited we've had a good time. There are some cracking restaurants in Grapevine, but what's that area on the waterfront in downtown Dallas that's recently been developed? They have a lot of jazz bars there. I too have worked Texas and found the people very agreeable, unlike Rokkit's stereotype, which would probably fit someone from the deep South. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your stay, but Dallas/Fort Worth actually appealed to us so much that we actually considered living there at one stage.

Karl – Grapevine, where Nora Jones grew up...I never made it over that way. The whole Dallas/Ft Worth area, called I believe the Metroplex, is considered to be one the restaurant hot spots of America. Being from New Orleans (considered by many as the deep south, but I take no offense to your comment), I’m partial to my hometown food, which can’t be duplicated anywhere! I think a lot of what people like is based on what’s different. Dallas is relatively cheap, wide-open spaces, sunny weather – doesn’t sound like the UK, does it? But for me, the UK is very appealing, so much history, and I often wonder why many of my friends who live there want to leave. But I also think the world is too big and life is too short to stay somewhere that just “doesn’t fit.” I’m not sure to which waterfront area in downtown Dallas you were referring, as the city landlocked, but I guess there could be something built since I left. I hope other people on ABC see how it’s possible to have an amicable disagreement. Foster.

often wonder why many of my friends who live there want to leave Probably the weather, that's the reason I keep thinking of leaving. I have a friend just moved here from the states, we met a couple of weeks ago and she complained "it's so cold" (she's from Michegan, so she should know what real cold is). "Ah," I said knowingly, "that'll be the damp." "No," she replied, "it's because you actually go outside here."

Having popped back to the UK for a couple of weeks I can only say that I whole-heartedly agree with Dan. For me it's not so much the cold as the depressing grey sky and the resultant miserable people - but it's certainly the weather that makes you want to leave. Yesterday, even though it was a bit cold, the sunshine lifted my spirits and reminded me that Spring is almost here. Today, although it's a bit warmer, the sky is back to grey and the drizzle paints everything and stains it bleak. Another month and Scarborough should be ideal but until then I'm off to sit under the palm trees drinking coconut milk and thinking that it's too hot so I'd better go for another swim... well, nowhere's perfect :O)

Ah ha Foster, New Orleans. Having spent five years on the road in the States, New Orleans was always our favourite spot. I've only visited once during Mardi Gras, but it doesn't have to be Mardi Gras to have fun in NO. You can simply stroll down Boubon Street and wander into any bar that takes your fancy, possibly attracted by the smile of the guy at the piano visible from the street. Three hours later you're back outside in the sunshine again, and you still haven't eaten. I always say to people that if you like music, and jazz in particular (anythying from the swing of the Court of the Two Sisters to the trad of Preservation Hall) and you enjoy good food, particularly Cajun and Creole cooking then NO is for you. Alternatively you may be an antiques fan, although for the life of me I can't think of that road just south of Bourbon Street, at right angles to Canal. Is it Royal? Or then again, the Voodoo of New Orleans may be for you. NO is steeped in history. The only dodgy thing about NO back then was the steamboat rides along the Mississippi on ..... was it the Natches? Unfortunately the romantic days of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn are well gone. I wrote about this in my book. I described the Mississippi as, "muddy, polluted, oily, smoky and rank. It is a ratbag of a river. A river of easy virtue if ever there was such a thing." All you see on the steamer ride are blast furnaces, dockyards, mills and steelworks. New Orleans recent historyis a tragedy, and hopefully she'll recover.

"I hope other people on ABC see how it’s possible to have an amicable disagreement" Yes, but you two aren't really disagreeing are you? Karl said, "and its impossible to disagree with your point of view because it's your point of view," Now go read Archergrowls responses to anyone who disagrees with her and you see where the problem lies.

You really know how to make a guy homesick, Karl. It's obvious you've been a time or two. Yes, it's Royal Street for the antiques, but always overpriced. What's that show, Bargain Hunter? It'd never work on Royal because there are no bargains. Also, I advise a visit during Jazz Fest - it beats the hell out of Mardi Gras. Snitcher, we did disagree (he likes Dallas, I don't), but look what has happened - through friendly discussion, we've found a common ground.

I almost moved to NO a couple years ago. My cousin lives there. Sadly, she lost her house in katrina. It's still uncertain if her neighborhood will rebuild.