Litopia

But it's where the King of Burgers lives!

the burger King of heart attacks! (deliberate capitalisation!)

One of the most disturbing things about the visit is that not only do none of them eat fruit or vegetables, but they all refuse to drink water. Their father claims that sodas (like Sprite, and Coca-Cola) are better for them than water because they contain electrolytes. Living in France I am unused to this. Luckily they leave tomorrow.

That simply isn't true. There's no electrolytes in coke whatsoever.
Coke and sprite are really bad for you.

How frustrating! Totally with Jake.



and diet soda is no better:



Is he trying to kill them? He's certainly shortening their lives and giving them a wealth of health problems.

I know! It is terrible to watch. The whole family are obese, and the kids all have learning difficulties too. The parents asked me to provide bacon and eggs so they could make English breakfast in the gite. After a long search in three shops, I could only find smoked bacon. This led to a (riveting) conversation about preferences in bacon. None of them touch smoked bacon. Then the grandmother(the only one not overweight) confessed to enjoying RAW BACON!!!!! It is all too much for me. Thank God they are leaving today. Last night in the peace and quiet of our own home, I indulged in a really yummy salad.

That's crazy.
I once knew a guy who only drank coke and ate only bacon sandwiches and chocolate digestives.
I hadn't seen him for over ten years, and when i went back home (grew up miles away from where i live now) i asked about him and my friends told me he died. Just dropped dead at the age of 32.
Diet can have a massive impact on your life expectancy.
But by the same token, my nan used to drink a glass of vinegar with her meals, and she's still going at 86.
Life is weird.

The problem with ultra processed foods is that they are not only cheap but addictive. It used to be poor people ate healthy now the big food companies are exporting these empty calorie lumps that never rot because there is no nutrition in them even for bacteria to the 3rd world. We may starve to death with full bellies if this trend keeps on.
Because sweet drinks are nothing but markup I used to offer my sons either the drink or the money. They always chose the money and water.

Try and find nitrate free bacon next time @Rachel Caldecott. That's better. My carers use nitrate gloves and that shit is in supermarket bacon. No wonder people are sick.

Huh. the electrolyte deal is a prime plot point in Idiocracy. they take it half a step further, if humans benefit from sugar drinks with electrolytes, obviously crops will fare better as well?

RK Wallis, I don't normally buy bacon at all. If on the rare occasions I buy ham, I always get the nitrite free. I haven't ever seen nitrite free bacon here (unsmoked is rare enough).

My main problem with Idiocracy is that almost all the innovators thru history came from poor families. The idiocracy should have focused on

@Pamela Jo - the imagination of Monty Python is addictive and hysterical!

"Luckily they leave tomorrow."

I have two ex-visitors. One insisted on telling me how to brush my teeth (OK, should have shut the bathroom door; I know now) TWICE. Once to tell me 'how', second time to complain I was 'still not doing it right'. I am a pensioner; it's too late.
The other – and here is the connection with your point – had embarked on a new, frankly strange, diet the day before coming here. Breakfast conversation:
'What would you like for breakfast?" Points to fresh fruit, plain and bio yoghurt, unsweetened cereals, etc
"I need to start the day with a piece of roast chicken as big as the palm of my hand..."
Downhill from there.

You win!

You can have them, both of them.
And the one (man) who marched us both deeply into Genoa's carruggi (narrow Medieval streets heading towards the port), insisting on leading the way, despite never having been there before. Brushed aside my: "I know it's longer, but I know the way, THIS way..."

Then, when we were hopelessly lost, "Look what you've done!" That's HIM to ME.
Me to him: "F*** you. I've had enough. I'm going shopping, and then I'm going home. You can do what you like."

Yes, one of our visitors was a little like that too. On another note; how long have you lived in Genoa? I lived in Rome for about 10 years, and although my daughter did her Service Civique (from France) in Genoa. I went to Ventimiglia a few times to take aid to refugees, but I never visited her there. We stayed outside in a funky hotel, Villa Bonera, in Nervi. Faded glory, and friendly hosts.

I live further down the coast, on the coast, in the 'Gateway to the Cinque Terre'. (Bah, humbug.) Nervi's still very smart, like anywhere heading towards Portofino. Rapallo, for instance ('Gateway to Portofino'. Ha!)

It's Ferragosto now, the BIG Italian holiday, and the place is just totally stuffed. We've also had some horrendous storms – orange alert, the highest – in the early hours of the weekend days. Sunday's was wild enough to take out the electricity and the phone, for the whole street. I stood on the dog in the total darkness (no streetlights)as she was hiding from the thunder partly under my bedside cabinet. (As she's a long dog, a Dachshund-Beagle, a fair bit was not under.)

I know orange alert doesn't seem like too much, but it is the max for that kind of storm. Before I'd read that, in the early hours of Saturday I was thinking: 'OMG, this is like the Apocalypse, a total deluge. If this is orange, what is red like??'

When my daughter visited Portofino after a storm and water spout, she found a lot of devastation (2016) and, I can't remember whether it was 2015 or 16, we arrived in Ventimiglia during a humdinger of a storm that had chased us from France. The next day we went to Monaco, and Biot. We were greatly amused by the vision of luxury cars suspended in trees. In Monaco, the storm caused all the sewer rats to surge out into the streets - which must have been quite a sight.