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Funny guidebook horrors and other nasties

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15:45 / 15.03.03

'The people of Amsterdam have decided facial and physical characteristics, being strongly built with big bones and solid bodies. Faces are often bold and even craggy, eyes usually blue or grey and features well defined. Blond hair predominates and men will often have moustaches. The young are athletic and well developed, well fed and healthy and they tend to dress fashionably and casually. Children are charming - and beautifully cared for with smart hairstyles and modish clothes.'

From the era of head measuring, you might assume? Nope - from the 1999 reprint of the 1990 edition of AA's (Automobile Association, not Alcoholics Anon) Pocket Guide to Amsterdam. How scary is that?

Cosmicjamas

16:25 / 15.03.03

LOL! Sounds positively Victorian to me!! The Daily (Hate) Mail has a new 'humourous' column at the moment and readers are invited to send in photos of 'amusing' signs. Yesterday's did disturb me somewhat, it's an example from Texas, two-thirds of it (looks like around 2 inch high letters) are taken up with the statement "Do not touch the edges of this sign. This sign has sharp edges!" Then right at the bottom in maybe 1cm high letters it says "Bridge out ahead". Hmm.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

02:41 / 16.03.03

I actually liked that sign. (And just to defend myself here, I have to read the Mail for my job.) Although I was trying to figure out if it would have been more, or less, funny, if the sign hadn't actually had sharp edges at all.

Cosmicjamas

20:17 / 17.03.03

Oh Stoatie, I was being Ironic!! I was actually in hysterics for several days after seeing that picture, and I really wish I could go to that place in Texas and touch the sign, just to see, just to know, the edges!

C'mon everybody, there must be more examples of literary or photograpic nastiness out there, published, erected, what-have-you, in an attempt to educate the unwary traveller!

(Sorry about the aberrant punctuation, blame several large Grants vodka!)

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