h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm taking this to a different thread to avoid accusations of conducting a love-fest.

Jakarta - hot, smelly, polluted. No question. Also the most unimagineably exotic place you could conceive of, and home to the most jaw-droppingly beautiful women on the planet.

**(And Ms. DellaTroll, I did say "WOMEN", not giggling little Asian girls with no objection to age innappropriate relationships, since you so succinctly included both a veiled accusation of paedophilia and an expression of your racial bigotry in one unwarranted attack on me)**

Spent New Years at ball at the Grand Hyatt hotel and rang in 2008 on the street with champagne and 34 degree temps.

As someone who (among other things) focusses professionally on environmental awareness and actions for corporate clients, Jakarta is a perfect playground. Every little improvement I get behind sees tremendous results. So, yes it is a crappy place in some ways, but it absolutely has its compensations!

I hope you have a super 2008!

Wow. I feel quite jealous at the thought of all those *women* you have surrounding you there. Funnily enough Imogen didn't mention that, as one of the advantages in her little review. She was most probably was of those tedious ultra heterosexual females one comes across that end up as wives of middle management, just because? well just because I suppose, there's not much you can really say about them, apart from the fact they are utterly colourless.

And never worry about speaking to me here. It recently became a neutral and impersonal space after I had a little problem with a canuck. It's completely safe and totally public. You should feel free to say exactly what you want here.

The English-speaking expat community here in the Big Durian is fairly small and awfully incestuous. If Imogen is who I think she is, you've nailed her.

I write a lot of social and political criticism and I've run across her. While I point out flaws and generally bitch and complain, my policy is always to offer an option, suggest an alternative or don't publish the bitching. Let us just say that she does the first half.

And, yes, I suspect you'd like it here. It is wildly exotic, as are the women. There are even some bizarre statistics regarding sexuality...

Women here are far more sexually active than are men, on average. Women have their first sexual experience at 16, men at 20. Women are far less conservative in their views on sex-related matters from homosexuality to multiple partners. The list goes on.

It may have to do with a backlash against the usual male dominance of Abrahamic religious tradition; I don't know. But combine the open sensuality of the women, their liberal attitude towards sex, and the fact that they are so often achingly, heart-breakingly beautiful, and you have a place worth checking out.



Best wishes!

Hi Kel

It's early morning here in London on New Years Day, and I'm still up. I presume late afternoonish/early evening for you there in Jakarta. You're probably having a siesta.

Anyway, I've always been quite intrigued by your description of yourself earlier on,

'I'm a professional social and political commentator as well as a university lecturer in philosophy and communications, and such business related areas as overlap with them. I work as an independent consultant in the same areas and seem to be specialising in CSR these days.'

Kind of difficult to get a handle on exactly what it is you do, not sure why exactly. Just can't get it to add up properly in my mind...

Is a career like that a sort of typical Indonesian academic thing?

Not really, Ef..

I've always been a journalist/writer with an interest in social and political issues. And I like to write opinion and editorial pieces; I make a big part of my income from that.

My outspokenness and some of the ideas I have presented in print have encouraged others to approach me and ask me to contribute to their corporate efforts, hence the genesis of any consultation work I do. At the same time, I am occasionally approached by universities to teach a course or a seminar in an area I have written on. I have the degrees to justify my presence on a faculty, and there you have my academic work.

I know it seems a little odd, but it makes sense to me.

Okay. It is a little scattered.

Late in the day after surfing, I wish you the best for your New Year's Day!

Hi Effers...had to change my socks again!

Keep on keepin' on, okay?

Yeah I was getting really confused by you keeping the same name for more than 5 minutes.

Good on you, men!

Don't wanna be hard to find, ya know! I'll keep these socks on until they block me again.

Why are they blocking you then?

This post has been removed.

>>How about you...how do you maintain your composure in the face of the bigotry that the BBC supports so wholeheartedly?<<

I don't feel that the BBC is bigotted. Yes I've felt frustrated from time to time here. I've made no secret of that. But I tend to look at things in terms of cost/benefits. And on h2g2 I still find the benefits far outweigh the costs. There's some brilliant people on this site which I enjoy debating with. I like interesting discussion. So even though I get fed up with people playing silly childish games, that's really a minor problem compared to the good stuff. That's the attitude I take in real life too. I don't expect things to be perfect.

I also enjoy the irony and humour on this site as well in some threads.

I agree with 3dots that basically this site is far more tolerant than most, even though sometimes I get overly impatient.

I feel a basic respect for this site and the BBC. The very high quality telly, radio and internet stuff the BBC puts out is a national treasure as far as I'm concerned. That's because I've lived in blighty all my life and see the BBC for all it does. So I can easily live with any temporary negatives I feel.

You know, Effers, I'm so glad I know you!

I'm going to work at appropriating that very wise and mature sensibility.

Thanks.

Anytime - men

Nah!....Wimmen!

Did you see that Ef? They Yikesed my (absolutely honest and accurate) explanation and accounting of their censorship. I'll be blocked again any moment.

See you after another change of socks!

See you soon, too, Della.

Yeah I'm pretty sure it was the female flightless bird who yikesed it. I'm unsubbing from all convos now, including this one, because of the flightless bird problem. But I'll keep an eye out on this thread.

The yikes wars have started, I see. The house troll has admitted to yikesing everything that she disagrees with and is a little peeved that the mods disagree.

Effers

So, she wins does she? Shame on you!

She only comes onto this site to get power over people, control them and stop them doing things they would want to on the site. From everything she writes she comes across as highly inadequate and therefore can only get a feeling of self-worth by abusing others and making them leave threads...i.e. she can se that she has actually succeeded in something in her sad little world.

Hey 3dots, I didn't actually mean unsubbing literally, I meant not showing any threads as subbed on my ps. She sometimes suddenly shows up any old thread I'm on because she comes here looking to see my convos I suppose. If there is no list it scuppers her.

She does send me balmy quite often. But maybe I'll go back to having the threads visible to me as it is dammed inconvenient. I'll see. And I do agree with what you say about her.

I just tend to ignore her. She simply puts up lies, insults, smoke screens etc just to get a rise from people.

Most people who ahve been on here for a while realise not to believe anything she says and tends not to call her...she never recants or substantiates anything so whats the point. It is just the casual visitor who when reading her dodgy stuff that isn't called on as wrong that they may think we agree with her. However, as you have seen and as I have been off line for days I have noticed a number of threads totally derailed and going nowhere because people keep replying to her rubbish. Ignore her and there is nothing for her to come back at and nothing to seed a derailment.