Culture And Climate: Great Britain

[Theben]

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
Clearly it has rendered them apathetic regarding their own culture.

And everyone else...

[Ted Striker]

how come brit slang is all about piss, blood, and sodomy

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

I think you'll find a huge quantity of it is about genitalia, whereas next to none is about piss and blood.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Originally posted by GhengisFarb
And here I always pictured Great Britain as just one big Disneyland................

Full of fat-arsed Americans?

[The Mad Monk]

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
It's possible that weather might drive people to find better lands, hence colonization, but that wouldn't explain it's popularity to other European nations -- or would it?

Would now be a good time to say I meant colonization's popularity with other European nations, not Britain's?

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Trajanus


well, british architecture in general is rather depressing actually, but that's just how I perceive it. Of course, I always see Britain in all its glory (=> rain) and perhaps that rain accentuates that depressing feeling

Of course, it never rains in sunny Mediterranean Belgium...

Which British architects do you find depressing? Or which British architecture do you find depressing?

Blenheim Palace?

http://www.blenheimpalace.com/

the De La Warr Pavilion?

http://www.open2.net/modernity/3_2.htm

Rennie Mackintosh?

http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Charles_Rennie_Mackintosh.html

Sir John Soane?

http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Sir_John_Soane.html

Nicholas Hawksmoor?

http://www.britainexpress.com/History/hawksmoor.htm

Tecton?

http://www.open2.net/modernity/4_5.htm

Trelleck Tower?

http://www.open2.net/modernity/3_14.htm

St. Pancras/Midland Grand Hotel ?

http://www.urban75.org/london/st_pancras02.html

Alfred Waterhouse's Manchester Town Hall?

http://www.speel.demon.co.uk/other/manchth.htm

The Royal Pavilion, Brighton?

http://www.royalpavilion.org.uk/

Britain's climate isn't actually that bad- after all, along the south coast in Cornwall (and in Brighton) palm trees grow in the open- one of the postcards my Canadian and Australian friends were amused by, was of snow bedecked palm trees in Penzance.
It does, after all, rain more in Norway and parts of Canada and the United States -Seattle isn't called Rain City for nothing, and my friends in Vancouver are always making jokes about that rare celestial object, the sun.

As for Britain having no culture- I suggest that culture is in the perception and experience of the beholder- the more you look and experience, the more you will find. But I would say that Great Britain's culture was more influenced by religion and industry than climate- the Puritans tried to ban theatres (and did, under Cromwell, along with Christmas, dancing, and so on) and the Industrial Revolution is responsible for Great Britain having works that combine engineering genius with architectural skill- the legacy of Telford, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Paxton, for instance.

[Ben Kenobi]

my friends in Vancouver are always making jokes about that rare celestial object, the sun.

We're on water rationing right now. Now watering lawns or washing cars. Some even put bricks in their toilets.

We've had a very hot and dry summer, followed by a beautiful September. October's been colder, but no steady rain.