Nomological Net

Stray thoughts from here and there. The occasional concern for construct validity. No more logic. Fish.

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faults in the clouds of delusion

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Whiskey Tango Flashbacks

A brief exchange with the Great PanJAPdrum yesterday triggered off a memory of a blog he'd told me about -- Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Check it out at your risk. Looking over the wares there, I realized that I too had a few WTF moments of my own. So here they are, for your viewin pleasure, a trip round the world, with a difference.


We start our eccentric little circuit off with this beauty from NYC's Lower East Side. Wasn't Chinese take-out supposed to be cheap? Or did the proprietors here just partake of an Honest Red Bean Bun?


Next, from sunny Auckland -- how nice to see a sign that practices what it preaches. Setting a standard by example, I say.


Then we have three gems from Kota Kinabalu, in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. All three involve interesting conceptual juxtapositions. The first is this logical conjunction of Hotel Full Hua with Soon Fatt. Of course.


Next, stretching it a *little* further, we see this obviously well-meaning instruction. Public health activists, warm your hearts out.


And finally, carrying the WC theme further, here's a radical idea -- co-ed toilets are good for mental health! Hah! Now they tell me.


Coming back down to earth, we find this stern reminder inside a taxi in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Yeah, and don't drink the brown unleaded. Limin'!


Next we travel all the way round the world back home to Hong Kong, land of the free (and 25% off), home of the brave (English-speaker). First with this injunction to take careful aim -- inside one of the largest Chinese products gift emporia in town.


Next is this astonishing concept of a shopping complex cum office building qua blindfold getting a facelift. Works on multiple levels, doesn't it? Feel free to take the elevators on this one.


And just in case you felt you were being short-changed by life, here's a golden opportunity from Pub Street in Siem Reap, Cambodia. See the temples, carv your name and animal on a stamp, how much more fulfilling can life get?


Pretty much, actually, This third Hong Kong beauty comes from a wedding I attended last week. It was a Chinese-French affair, but more than anything else the thing that caught my eye was that the cameraman seemed to have been making do with available technology. Giving the term acid flash a whole new meaning.


Finally, we cap off our flashback tour with this double-whammy at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. Not only does the sign at the top right tell us about "Subway Phast Phood" (if you read the Hindi), there's also one at bottom left that reminds us that our travails are aught but an endangered species and we should be thankful we're not being packed off to Sariska or somewhere.

And so to bed.

22 Comments:

Blogger km said...

Ha!

Ha!

5/03/2007 12:13 AM  
Blogger Revealed said...

:)))))))))))))))))

Wish the last one was a little clearer :). Couldn't seem to look away from blue-turban guy for some reason. Puzzling.

5/03/2007 12:50 AM  
Blogger MockTurtle said...

Not being much of a photographer, I have to ask; What's the great advantage of putting a big bag of chips over your camera flash? Seems to defeat the purpose to me. But then again, what do I know.

5/03/2007 1:00 AM  
Blogger km said...

MT: That's how you keep those chips warm and crisp.

Then again, gives the sentence "I think Uncle Chipps just flashed" a whole new meaning.

5/03/2007 2:54 AM  
Blogger Revealed said...

And I thought that's what they meant by feed line.

5/03/2007 3:06 AM  
Blogger Rahul Siddharthan said...

My all-time favourite has to be this government-run child bear shop.

5/03/2007 3:57 AM  
Blogger Tabula Rasa said...

km:
glad you liked a couple - what about the other nine?

revealed:
i'll have to look closer at him - maybe he was munching on a slice of pizza?

mt, km, revealed:
hahaha yes. this guy had actually wrapped the bag round the back of his flash unit, presumable to direct and maybe also reflect the light forwards.

rahul:
ah, off your vegetarian ways? or do you just go for the apple that they serve up in the bear's mouth?

5/03/2007 9:41 AM  
Blogger P said...

Haaaaa! Nice!!

5/03/2007 11:08 AM  
Blogger Rahul Siddharthan said...

Oh come, no child bears were harmed in the making of that shop's menu.

Would you eat a child bear (as opposed to drinking one)? I know lots of carnivores who would be horrified by it -- or by eating a child dog or a child dolphin -- but other child mammals, or adult mammals, are fair game.

5/03/2007 11:55 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

NO good comes from any exchanges with JAP. Except this. Such fun!

5/03/2007 7:52 PM  
Blogger Abi said...

Good stuff!

I should be careful with you when I tell you to "Give Way" ...

5/04/2007 12:03 AM  
Blogger Tabula Rasa said...

persp inc:
thanks :-)

rahul:
yes, i think i would (unless they're a protected species). at least once.

ph:
come on, give the man more credit! (and imagine what we could do with a picture of him :-D)

abi:
hey, don't blame the innocent bystander!

5/04/2007 12:23 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Speaking of which, I want the picture you mentioned in the comments of the previous post. I can buy drinks. Very yummy drinks. Think about it!

5/04/2007 2:48 AM  
Blogger Tabula Rasa said...

which picture? one of the balcony ones? feel free to download them - i've got tons more.

5/04/2007 9:02 AM  
Blogger Szerelem said...

Hmmm....so the one thing I know for sure from this post (I already knew this - but this post just reinforced that!) - you travel way tooo much!

5/04/2007 11:30 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

" i love the one of you with your arm inside the fishing bucket in sai kung -- that one's a keeper" That one. And any of the infamous hat? :P

5/04/2007 9:12 PM  
Blogger Tabula Rasa said...

szerelem:
hmm, and a summer from hell coming up.

ph:
ohhh, for that you'll have to ask the Man himself. i fear lest He Sit On Me.

5/05/2007 1:14 AM  
Blogger Szerelem said...

summer from hell in terms of shifting or travelling??

And piffle is over and some pics are up :)

5/05/2007 1:27 PM  
Blogger Tabula Rasa said...

both. and thanks!

5/05/2007 10:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

haha. the funniest one i ever saw, and couldn't take a photo of was a sign visible on the train from waltikon to zurich. it said in big bold letters "Go Home Pizza," which led to us scratching our heads for most part of that journey.

We finally realized they meant "take away pizza."

5/06/2007 12:09 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Haha. Which is why we offered drinks, it will numb the pain.

5/06/2007 12:54 AM  
Blogger Tabula Rasa said...

scout:
reminds me of a joke my parents crack about a fancy new restaurant in calcutta in the 50s, which had this big sign saying "ITALIAN TAKE-AWAY" or something of the sort. a local wit opened a shop next door with an equally big sign saying "BENGALI BRING BACK".

ph:
offer him drinks adequately enough and maybe he won't be able to sit :-D

either way i dig my heels in and insist it is between the two of youse. leave me out of it!

5/06/2007 10:34 AM  

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