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A curious observation on the mystical nature of embassies

Bard: One-Man Humaton Hoedown

00:56 / 22.09.04

[Apologies if this was posted twice, I've been having some connection problems and have been getting non-connect messages when posting]

Was riding to go see "Sky Captain" yesterday. I do a lot of urban bike riding, often probably where I shouldn't (become rather adept at avoiding foot traffic on sidewalks). Anyway, so I pass in front of the US Embassy. Now, for those not in Toronto, understand what this place is done like: there are four conrete posts (probably with steel rebar inside) along the sidewalk with about 1 1/2-2 feet between them. There is a HUGE concrete planter in front of the building, facing the street.

So anyway, I ride through and around the posts like I normally do, and I just get this weird feeling that lasts only up until I pass through the posts at the opposite end of the embassy. I mean, its like the city was actually...different...there. Noticably different.

Thoughts? Has this happened to anyone else?

grant

15:10 / 22.09.04

Yeah, the American embassy in Guangzhou is definitely... America. It's more than just the American faces behind the windows. The architecture, the walls, all that intangible stuff.

sine

13:18 / 23.09.04

Anti-Coriolis toilets?

"To combat homesickness, we've installed a device that makes them swirl the correct American way."

I live in Toronto, and I have noticed a few weird things in the immediate vicinity of that embassy...to be honest, I've always assumed I'm picking up someone else's 'curse-vibes'.

Bard: One-Man Humaton Hoedown

18:54 / 24.09.04

Ain't me, sine. It doesn't feel "curse"-ish, though I could certainly see things being directed that way. I dunno. Maybe I'll zip over there on my way back from the Hairy Tarantula today and see if I can get a more concrete feel for the place.

Incidentally, since you live in TO, have you seen the two trees in the courtyard behind the Staples on Yonge(I think its Yonge). There are two trees coming out of the pavement with some bicycle lollipops around them. They've got funky vibes coming off them.

ONLY NICE THINGS

21:07 / 24.09.04

Hmmm... interesting one. If an area is full of people whose status is identified not only *as* foreign, but also with being specifically foreign, you probably create a sort of regional reinscription.

On the other hand, the only time I've really encountered an embassy as feeling like foreign space, and specifcally space resistant to the surrounding territory, is the US embassy, which may be about the unilateral and isolationist nature of the state, or possibly the intrusion of guns into a still gun-resistant Britain...

grant

03:17 / 25.09.04

This kind of thing was exactly what kicked off the Boxer Rebellion, by the way. The Boxers were mystic warriors, who got pissed off because the British & Americans built embassies in the imperial city.

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