Switch of country but not such a big change of locale? I liked some of the more-plentiful public toilets in France when I lived there. They had attendants. Great when I was travelling alone with my kids. My son was too old to go into the ladies', so it was nice to have someone there watching.

Though some French toilets just had holes in the floor.

a restaurant in New York decreased urinal "spillage" by 80% (how they got a percentage out of it... i'll never know) by etching or drawing a fly, on the back of the male, wall-mounted urinals. the idea being, inable to deny the human urge of wanting to kill smaller, lesser things, the men would try to urinate on said fly. rather then taking their usual apathetic approach to urine destination that results in the stains, and rust usually seen around the urinals. in some countries, "restrooms" (quotes, because there is no "room" to them) on many a street corner. just a little bit of a privacy wall. and 3-4 urine recepticals. better than having puddles covering your fair city. i know here, in this country, it's impossible to find places to relieve one's self. and totally illegal to do in public. most plausable restrooms are in places of business, where you must first do business, in order to use the restroom. terrible.

Poor illiterates could think it's special assigned places, marked with symbols for representatives of different denominations

On public walls in India it's a common practice to paint the symbols of major religions (a Crucifix, a Crescent Moon, a Ganesh, and sometimes a Star of David) at waist level. The idea being that many people are illiterate, but even an illiterate slob won't piss on a wall if he recognizes the symbol of his own religion there.

I wondered if this could backfire though. "Ooops! Can't piss here. That's my Ganesh here. Hmmmm. The symbols for all those other religions are right here. WooHoo!" (Piss piss piss)

That reminds me of a time when I accidentally pissed on a mosque in Southampton. I was drunk, I had to go and there was an alley. While urinating, I lifted my head and noticed the the sign that said "mosque". Now, I´m pretty far from being a religious person but when I saw those people on the other end of the alley notice what I was doing, I almost wished I had something to believe in. They were furious! Luckily they didn´t attack me, probably because it was day time. I just walked towards them, saying nothing despite their loud abuse, in order to get out of the alley.. I was shit scared cause it´s impossible to say how fundamental islamists they were and how they would react..

unfortunetly, people can't be trusted to punish themselves with even the tiniest amount of guilt. i can remember being on the road. when the need to urinate and the thought of the damage my kidney's may recieve, forced me to pull over in an empty parking lot, to relieve myself. the parking lot being in the rear of this building, i chose the darkest location, which was just the stone wall of the establishment, behind a dumpster. wrapping that up, i left the lavatory, and drove passed the front of the building. when i realized it was a church. i had urinated on a church. this is just any old church in new york. probably as corrupt as any other, maybe the preacher isn't even a very good person. nonetheless, it is the "house of god" that i had defaced. i felt terrible, and i was definetly in (a cleaner) church, by next sunday.

i believe ozzy's capacity for guilt has been fried away or drowned over the years. i am NOT a very religious person, but there's some stuff one just shouldn't do.

thetxbelle wrote:What was Ozzy doing out in just his wifes robe

Evidently pissing on things and generally setting a good example.

The Cenotaph is the only known monument in the US (maybe the world? no clue... )that features ghosts and is based on the spirits that guarded and scared away the Mexican army from burning what was left of the Alamo.

PS What was Ozzy doing out in just his wifes robe

DzM wrote:While we're on the subject - Ozzy Osbourne was arrested on Feb 19, 1982 for taking a piss on the Alamo while wearing his wife's robe (though I suspect the robe had little to do with the arrest).

yes, and was banned from performing in this city, the world's metal capital, for eight years. But it was the Cenotaph, the monument on the plaza dedicated to the fallen heroes of the battle, which he christened, not the sacred shrine itself, or he would probably still be banned.

While we're on the subject - Ozzy Osbourne was arrested on Feb 19, 1982 for taking a piss on the Alamo while wearing his wife's robe (though I suspect the robe had little to do with the arrest).

The legend is that it was some kind of political protest. The story from Mr. Osbourne is that he was really high/drunk/whatever and thought that any wall would be a good place to piss - just bad luck it happened to be a wall that Texan law enforcement has strong feelings for.

MacRua wrote:Sorry, Thetxbelle, what are "open container laws" about?

The open container law refers to a time when you could drive around with an open bottle of beer or alcohol in your car in this state.

BTW
About the the Alamo, it was a mercantile, army post, and basically in ruins. Theres alot of interesting photos of this time period. The person who truly saved the Alamo is Aldina De Zavala(who gets little to NO credit!), she even briefly barracaded herself inside the Alamo so it wouldnt be torn down or used for business by idiots anymore. The idiots in turn, ended up winning because their faction of the "Daugters of the Texas Republic" won over the rights to the Alamo and still hold them today due to Clara Driscolls money (She wanted to tear the whole thing down and had to be talked out of it). Their chapter still exist and is in control over alot of the landmark and its social events etc.

OK so thats not really site related just FYI. Im done. Off the soap box.

I haven't been to America but someparts of Ireland really do take alot of beating for scenery, The Wicklow moutains and Kerry a more, to be fair parts of Ireland are shitholes but the ones that are worth seeing are simply beautiful.

that seems a bit sad that they're willing to alter and "enhance" or mutate a historical shrine in the name of what the tourists (the dollar signs with stupid hats, bad socks, cameras and belly bags) want to, or expect to see.

the same goes for anything... if there's a beautiful peace of nature, they put up a fence, a gate and a tolltaker. i got kicked around the islands of south carolina because they were too beautiful for me to afford.

The Alamo really does look like a reproduction of itself. I stayed in the nearby Davy Crockett Hotel (!) in San Antonio earlier this year, from which vantage point the Shrine looks just like a Hollywood set.

Partly this is because the famous roof was actually added to the unfinished building several years AFTER the famous 1836 siege. Almost all subsequent manifestations of the Alamo in popular culture felt obligated to portray the iconic roof, although it was not an original feature.

In fact, the chapel - almost all that remains of the large Mission complex - played a relatively small part in the siege. There was little or no fighting there, but it housed some of the wives and children.

Sorry, Thetxbelle, what are "open container laws" about?