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Post by 3piggles on Feb 14, 2017 21:30:46 GMT
Snatch was one of the slowest movies to get started, but once it was going, it was full-tilt hilarious! I don't remember if it had subtitles are not, but I think it must have, as they were mostly unintelligible. We don't have gypsies in the US, not in the caravan-traveling, separate from the rest of society way, anyway. Closest we got were carnies, the people who lived and traveled with carnivals from town to town. Those are pretty much gone, now. In parts of Europe they are called Roma, and are treated as trash. Some places even wall in the low income projects where they live, so they can't get out to 'bother' the good people Eastern Europe is particularly hard on them They were some of the first people to be treated the way everyone is treating refugees and illegal aliens, now. Suspected of everything under the sun, because they weren't part of the local society. Always economically poor, and persecuted for it. Pretty much the same thing we do now It seems once a group of people have been branded as miscreants, nothing they do can remove that designation
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Post by jolovespiggies on Feb 16, 2017 10:31:18 GMT
That is awful Piggles love, no one should be treated like that. Gypsies have always had a bad reputation here. When my mother was at school a gypsy girl joined their class and she remembers everyone being extra careful to hide their money and valuables because they had a reputation for thieving. Our gypsies and tinkers here are far from poor though, they always have loads of cash and love to wear gold. They are usually great with horses and I do believe that some of them are genuinely fey.
Hugs Jo xx
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Post by 3piggles on Feb 16, 2017 18:37:22 GMT
I think the antipathy toward gypsies comes from a general fear of people we don't know. People settled in cities, towns, villages, hamlets, etc., and got to know all the other people there. They knew who they could count on, who was pretty much useless, who was likely to steal from them, and just about everything else. When strangers came through, even white people just like the residents, the residents were suspicious of the traveler. I also think settled people are suspicious of traveling people, because the instinct to distrust people we don't know is very strong. That instinct triggers our friend/foe, fight/flight instincts, which make us take action. If someone comes through all the time, such as a traveling sales person everyone knows and trusts, that's different. Also, traveling sales people tended to travel alone, not in caravans. People who travel in groups are considered to be transient, untrustworthy and best avoided.
It seems the more material goods we amass, the more we distrust others, and the more there are others who are trying to take what we have. Scams, cons, hacking, it's endless, and seems as if nothing is really a safe place to keep our information. So we become distrustful. It really is sad, but the gypsies also don't do much to integrate themselves into local societies. They don't even have a specific nomadic route they always follow, so the locals along that route get to recognize and know them.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Feb 17, 2017 9:45:14 GMT
That is true, it is in the human nature to hate what we fear and we do fear anything that is different. It is true, gypsies do seem to be very insular so it is a vicious circle, they don't trust us and many of us don't trust them. You are right, it is because they move in groups also and numbers are seen as a further threat.
Hugs JO xx
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Post by 3piggles on Feb 17, 2017 22:17:51 GMT
One complaint I hear a lot around here is that Muslims don't try to assimilate. I don't know if the same thing happened when we were taking in loads of Jewish refugees, but they only eat kosher food, which is the same as halal food for the Muslims.
People also complain that the Muslim women won't dress in western styles, as if baring everything is THE MOST appropriate attire possible. I agree that no one should be allowed to completely cover their faces. Yes, I know it's the culture for some Muslims, but we are a society that not only distrusts anyone who covers their faces(usually bank robbers, terrorists, etc.), but we have a system that counts on facial recognition software. Stores, cities, etc., have paid a great deal of money for these systems, and they don't work if someone is completely covered in lose clothing. So I don't blame businesses for not wanting fully covered people shopping in their stores, as the store surveillance system is useless with fully covered people.
I think the women who completely cover their bodies need to understand that that's not how we do things in this country, and either find a way to change enough to meet our standards, or shop in the Muslim stores and online. It's not about demanding they change. It's about both sides finding ways to cooperate, and finding areas where the two cultures can meet. Neither culture should demand that the other totally change to suit them. I really think that would help to smooth the transition periods for new cultures coming to the US. It's also a cultural issue, not a religious one, so it's really unclear if it's protected under the constitution.
I also really wish people would go back through old pictures, and see that most people did not dress as the ruling English dressed. Women from many cultures cover the hair with some sort of scarf. For centuries the catholic church required women to have their heads covered, and men to remove any head coverings. This is not new, it is not Muslim, it is not terrorist.
The food differences aren't new, Muslim or terrorist, either. Every immigrant group brought their own customs, foods, dress and traditions to their new countries. We've forgotten, because we adopted so many of them, and they're part of our traditions, now. So I really wish we would all stop and think before we let fear of strangers cloud our judgement.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Feb 18, 2017 14:01:09 GMT
I quite agree Piggles love, we have to cover up when we go to their countries but they won't adhere to our dress codes.
Hugs JO xx
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Post by Bean on Mar 3, 2017 9:47:03 GMT
We've just taken up one of the free month trials for Amazon Prime, to help us see out the dreary, stormy evenings.
We've started watching the latest season of Transparent, which is a comedy drama about a family whose father, in retirement, reveals to them he identifies as transgender and starts living as a woman. The family are mostly a rotten self-centered lot, but it has some pretty funny and also sweet moments.
We also just watched the first episode of Sneaky Pete, which is a drama produced by, and featuring, Bryan Cranston (who I adore!). He plays a gangster trying to track down a confidence trickster who has just been released from prison and owes him loads of money. The con artist takes on the identity of someone he met in prison (Pete) to try and escape detection - Pete's family haven't seen him for 20+ years so he thinks he can get away with pretending to be him.
First opinions were that it's very good, and the acting is excellent, but it will be quite stressful to watch!
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Post by 3piggles on Mar 3, 2017 20:26:02 GMT
Do you have a subscription to a provider of regular TV channels, or do you just do Netflix, Amazon, etc.? We're still trying to get ourselves to change off the regular channels, and over to Sling, Acorn, etc. We just don't think that way, as we've always had all those channels. We don't want all of those channels. We're paying for a lot of home shopping channels and religious channels we don't want, instead of getting the channels we really do want, so I'm just wondering how you came to going with Netflix and Amazon, and if that's including a regular channel provider subscription, or not.
We can get a lot of the channels we want to watch on Sling, but I've found that I really like the DIY channel, but not all of the series they offer on home remodeling. On Roku, we can buy some DIY Channel programs, but not the ones I want to buy. Acorn has a lot of shows we love, but have already seen. If we want new movies, we have to pay extra. We're just not sure that we won't nickle and dime ourselves into spending just as much money as we are now, and still not getting what we want.
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Post by Bean on Mar 4, 2017 9:30:01 GMT
We normally just get the free channels (of which there are many!), we don't have a regular subscription to anything. We quite often watch stuff on iPlayer too.
We just had a year of Netflix because it came free with my husband's mobile deal. We did pay for it for a few months a few years ago, when Breaking Bad came out. But we didn't keep it after it had finished as we'd watched most of the other stuff we were bothered about watching.
I hadn't used my free month's trial of Amazon Prime (which everyone is offered) so we'll use that and if there's still stuff we want to watch, we might keep it for a few months. As well as the stuff that's free with Prime, you can pay to view newer or premium releases. But we can also do that through our tv anyway, yet rarely do.
I think if we got more organised actually looking at what was on and recording stuff we were interested in, we'd have more than enough to watch for free. But sadly that's not our forte - I only ever get round to looking at a tv guide over Christmas!
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Post by jolovespiggies on Mar 4, 2017 10:18:35 GMT
I want Netflix but we don't even had an HD TV yet so it isn't possible. I want to see my three naughty boys again.
Hugs JO xx
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Post by Bean on Mar 5, 2017 8:01:50 GMT
Who are they - do you mean the Top Gear twerps?! They're on Amazon, unfortunately, as I keep seeing their smug mugs popping up!
Kindergarten Cop was on yesterday - I enjoyed watching that again!
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Post by jolovespiggies on Mar 5, 2017 13:17:26 GMT
I do I am afraid Bean honey, I just love 'em LOL!! I am speaking of Jeremy, James and Richard not the new upstarts. Kindergarten Cop was great, I would love to see it again.
Hugs JO xx
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Post by Bean on Mar 6, 2017 8:59:17 GMT
Oh I wish I could send them over to your tv and off mine, Jo!
Arnold certainly isn't the greatest actor, but he made some fantastically entertaining films! I'd like to see Twins again.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Mar 6, 2017 14:10:49 GMT
Ha ha, I do too hunni. Are you watching The Good Karma Hospital, I love it, not to mention Call the Midwife? Two brilliant programmes.
Hugs Jo xx
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Post by Bean on Mar 6, 2017 16:47:48 GMT
I've not seen either of those - I've heard of Call the Midwife (which is probably something I could get in to but my husband wouldn't watch it!) but not the other one.
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Post by 3piggles on Mar 6, 2017 17:40:12 GMT
We've only seen one episode of Call The Midwife, where one of the midwives is accused of murdering an elderly woman who was in terrible pain. The womans doctor refused to treat her for the pain unless she went into the hospital, which she refused to do, as she wanted to die at home. The midwives decided to put her on the toilet, just in case, knowing it might kill her. She was fine with it, but her wayward son filed charges, and made everyone's lives miserable until her realized he was just angry with his mother for dying before he got back home to say goodbye. It seemed like a good show, though a bit hard for us to follow, as we don't have midwives in the US, at least not as part of any regular medical practice, and we don't know the ins and outs of the UK care system. We've been watching Prof. Louis B. Gates Africas Great Civilizations: www.pbs.org/show/africas-great-civilizations/ I don't know if you can see the link, Jo. It's about all of the great civilizations that flourished in Africa, why they flourished, what ended them, and why white people refuse to admit black people were ever capable of having such civilizations. I knew about the Egyptians and the Nubians, but it turns out there are more ruins of great civilizations in Africa than just about anywhere else. These were civilizations that rivaled the Greeks, so it's been very interesting. It also deals with what happened to destroy African potential, create an overseas slave market, etc. It's sad that after thousands of years of incredible civilizations, Africans have been reduced to former slaves, in the minds of many white people. Bean, we've explored all of the options, Netflix, Prime, Sling, Acorn, etc. We're not interested enough in what they have to offer, or it's shows we've already seen, to really want to pay for it. A free membership might make a difference, but with Prime, doesn't that free membership come as part of a package that costs $99/year? I totally agree with getting more organized. We need to really explore what we want to watch and what we watch because it's available, and decide how to spend our TV money. We would still need at least basic cable to get the local news, and we would need the Internet. We would lose the DVR, if we went back to basic cable, and still haven't figured out how to record off ROKU or any of the other options. Some shows on Sling are hourly, so we have to watch them when they are broadcast, or miss them. That's what we already have, only cable provides all of the shows on each network, while Sling only provides some of them. Still, I think Sling and the other options would be much less expensive, especially if we are careful about what we watch. We just can't get the one network we watch the most, on Sling, which is a real hurdle to letting go of cable.
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Post by Bean on Mar 6, 2017 18:35:50 GMT
I can just have the free month with Amazon Prime and stop it, or after that it's about £6 a month on a rolling contract, no minimum term (it's £8 if you take the option with free next day delivery on all orders too). You can probably pay for a year up front, but we won't!
Netflix is just month by month too, so it can be good to chop and change - watch everything you want to see on one provider, try another, and then come back in a few months later when there have been new things added.
My parents took the free month on Amazon Prime before Christmas and ran out of things to watch before it had finished, but there are quite a few series we fancy watching, so I think it should keep our interest for at least a month!
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Post by jolovespiggies on Mar 7, 2017 9:20:08 GMT
Apparently Called the Midwife Beat Game of Thrones at the BAFTAS and I can really understand why. I am not sure how many Call the Midwives have been made but we have to be on series 4 at least. Wow that looks interesting Piggles love, I really enjoy learning about how other people live/lived. I will probably take advantage of my free Amazon month once we get an HD TV, however long that may take.
Hugs Jo xx
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Post by 3piggles on Mar 7, 2017 21:37:30 GMT
There should be some criteria for the awards, and they are usually listed online, as they are public information.
Yes, it is a very interesting series. I knew about the Egyptian and Nubian empires, but there were so many others. Interestingly, Christianity caught on in parts of Africa before it really caught on in the middle east. No Roman presence in Africa to persecute them, just the overwhelming Muslim presence, so christian churches were built publicly in Africa before they were built publicly in the middle east.
Looking at all of the empires that flourished for hundreds of years, and all eventually fell, for one reason or another. It seems to be the natural order of civilizations. Anyone who builds an empire will eventually be the target of someone who wants that empire, and will lose it. Once taken over, most of them seem to have failed and disappeared. The Nubians seem to have been one of the leading forces for surviving, either by controlling everything, or by doing what their conquerors did only better. Out do your conquerors at their own game, and end up back in power. Maybe hacking and T-rump are going to be our undoing. I wonder who will rise to power then?
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Post by jolovespiggies on Mar 8, 2017 9:23:11 GMT
That is true Piggles love, many nations have had their shot of having an Empire and have lot it, including the UK. When we had our Empire and were a rich country, the poor were poorer than ever and it is the closest we ever came to a revolution. I dread to think what the trend will be in the future, computers replacing people altogether? I cannot help feeling that no matter what it is it won't be good.
Hugs Jo xx
Hugs Jo xx
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