The Bum(fuzzle)s Are Moving Afloat Again !

[smackdaddy]

Meeeeehhhhh....these young kids and their hipster sailing!

[engele]

Originally Posted by TaoJones

There's definitely less animosity on here, as well, Eric, because the Rules against personal attacks are strictly enforced . . . perhaps not always the case those many years ago when Pat and Ali were regularly raked over the coals by some of the members.

TaoJones

I think this is a shame. Especially considering that they put more miles under them than many on here. There are some things even in this thread that I think are tactless. Cruisers Forum, Sailing Anarchy, etc. all can be tough places. They can also be great places to find help and advice. I like that there are folks on here who have many many miles under their keels, it is a shame in my view that a few others have been put off. When I first read their book I laughed at some of their mistakes, but envied the fact they went out and did it. I have nothing but respect for that.

[smackdaddy]

Originally Posted by engele

I think this is a shame. Especially considering that they put more miles under them than many on here. There are some things even in this thread that I think are tactless. Cruisers Forum, Sailing Anarchy, etc. all can be tough places. They can also be great places to find help and advice. I like that there are folks on here who have many many miles under their keels, it is a shame in my view that a few others have been put off. When I first read their book I laughed at some of their mistakes, but envied the fact they went out and did it. I have nothing but respect for that.

+1...

[engele]

Originally Posted by minaret

As someone who earned his fortune in the trades building tangible things, namely boats, I just can't respect anyone who made it wheeling and dealing stocks. People like that are the reason the economy is broken, making money shuffling numbers. Aside from that, they are classic ugly americans, at least that's what I got out of the book and blog. The obsession with fast food, the lack of any interest in local culture, the embracing of ignorance,etc. Not my kind of people...
And after I paid full price for the book on kindle when it first came out and then realized it was just the blog tweaked a little I felt swindled. The guy couldn't even bother to actually write new content, just cashing in, again. I've since read several kindle books that were the same, a nauseating trend...

$3.99 isn't going to kill you for the convenience of being able to read it away from your internet connection. If you really have made your money building boats that's great, but likely you've taken a loan, have a retirement account, or own your own company. If you've ever sold a stake in your business you have also done the same things. What could you possibly gain from calling someone and "ugly American" or claiming to know what they are like without actually knowing them? Lighten up. What about working for a company and providing them a service is wrong?

[engele]

Originally Posted by smackdaddy

+1...

Thank you Smack. I think we see eye to eye.

[Vyndance]

Originally Posted by engele

Thank you Smack. I think we see eye to eye.

+2.

And while we are talking about the experts running people off, what happened To Christie and Eric Grab?

[minaret]

Originally Posted by engele

$3.99 isn't going to kill you for the convenience of being able to read it away from your internet connection. If you really have made your money building boats that's great, but likely you've taken a loan, have a retirement account, or own your own company. If you've ever sold a stake in your business you have also done the same things. What could you possibly gain from calling someone and "ugly American" or claiming to know what they are like without actually knowing them? Lighten up. What about working for a company and providing them a service is wrong?

Read more carefully- I bought the book when it was first released, at which point it's price on kindle was $9.99. While still cheap for an actual book, it felt like a ripoff for a blog already free on the web turned in to a "book" with no original content.. The paperback price is still 18.95. Amazon.com: Bumfuzzle (9780615220338): Patrick Schulte: Books Not that the price really matters, it's the principle of the thing. And for the record I've never taken a loan of any sort for anything in my life. On the few occasions in my life when I was given stock I immediately cashed out. I could go on, but it's not like I think I'm a paragon of virtue and they are dirt, I just said they didn't seem like my kind of people and no more.
The term "ugly americans" has been used to describe a particular behavior of americans abroad for a very long time now. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugly_American_(epithet)
They struck me as fitting the bill-



The term was used as the title of a 1948 photograph of an American tourist in Havana by the Cuban photographer Constantino Arias (see infobox above)[38], but seems to have entered popular culture as the title of a 1958 book by authors William Lederer and Eugene Burdick. In 1963 the book was made into a movie directed by George Englund and starring Marlon Brando.
The best-selling, loosely fictional account provided contrasting characters with different approaches to opposing Communist influence in Southeast Asia, and the use of foreign aid in particular. The majority of the Americans exhibit a range of blundering, corrupt, and incompetent behaviors, often concentrating on impractical projects that will serve more to benefit American contractors than the local population. A minority are effective because they employ knowledge of the local language and culture, but most of these are marginalized and some even considered suspect. As a result, their influence is more limited than it should be.[39]
The title character, Homer Atkins, is introduced late in the book. He is "ugly" only in his physical appearance. His unattractive features, rough clothing and dirty hands are contrasted with the bureaucrats' freshly pressed clothes, clean fingers and smooth cheeks. Their behaviors have the opposite contrast: Atkins cares about the people of southeast Asia and wants to help them create practical solutions to their everyday problems; the bureaucrats want to build highways and dams that are not yet needed, and with no concern for the many other projects that will have to be completed before they can be used. [40] The book led to a move by President Dwight Eisenhower to study and reform American aid programs in the region.[41]
In the book, a fictional Burmese journalist wrote, "For some reason, the people I meet in my country are not the same as the ones I knew in the United States. A mysterious change seems to come over Americans when they go to a foreign land. They isolate themselves socially. They live pretentiously. They're loud and ostentatious. Perhaps they're frightened and defensive, or maybe they're not properly trained and make mistakes out of ignorance."[42]
The idea of the ignorant or badly-behaving American traveler long predates this book. Mark Twain wrote about The Innocents Abroad in the nineteenth century, and Algonquin Round Table member Donald Ogden Stewart wrote Mr and Mrs Haddock Abroad in 1924


And as I said before, I don't know them personally and could be totally wrong about that, I'm just going off what they have chosen to put in print, which makes them seem very much the "ugly american" to me. I've never read any travel log of any sort which struck me as so overwhelmingly negative about all of the people and places which they went to. The only time they seemd happy was when they found another McDonald's, no joy in sailing or nature or new cultures at all, at least that's how it came across to me. And believe me I'm not jealous; I've had plenty of miles under my own keel, have a boat that dwarfs theirs and is dramatically better equipped, and my own beautiful happy well off family. Wouldn't trade with them for anything. When Someone states their opinion on a forum and you don't agree with it, you should probably stick to logical concise factual argument if an argument is what you want to have, not puerile juvenile attacks like "he's just jealous" or "lighten up". Sorry you guys don't like it (not really), but it's my opinion. Perhaps you should stick to just stating yours if that's the best you can do.

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Not sure that statement is correct unless your definition of privileged is going to school, learning to buy and sale in the Ag commodities and do good at it.

Not trying to get in on the problem but "Ag Commodites" as in Archer Danial (ADM) and others is a less then desirable way to make money...just ask me I sell to the military establishment..a much more honarable way to make money...DVC

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by minaret

Nothing " evil " about it, I just personally dont respect that. That's all I ever said. Lot of people trying to make that something it isn't. Don't see why any of you would care about my opinion enough to mention it. Must be a lot of people who don't build anything on this thread. How about addressing some other points, such as the blatant ripoff that was the book, or the ugly American behavior. I don't know these people personally, I'm just going off the portion of themselves they've chosen to put out there, the book and blog. They could be perfectly wonderful people, it just doesn't seem like it to me. Never said anything remotely like accusing them of being evil, seems like histrionics from here...

Damn Minaret you make a good business manager for these bumfuzzells I dont know anything about them but now I want to read the book..since you said the blog was about the same I will just read it ...I dont want to support them blindly....damn day traders!

[Matt Johnson]

Car salesman here... you should hide your wallet since I must lie and steal like the noble Minaret said.

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by funjohnson

Car salesman here... you should hide your wallet since I must lie and steal like the noble Minaret said.

You guys do have a bad rap..I dont think you would steal my wallet,would you?...DVC LOL

[smackdaddy]

Originally Posted by minaret

And believe me I'm not jealous; I've had plenty of miles under my own keel, have a boat that dwarfs theirs and is dramatically better equipped...

Heh-heh. Minaret, I'm starting to think you're the black-smocked dude in your avvy.

Yo, Fuzzles, watch your legs!

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

Not trying to get in on the problem but "Ag Commodites" as in Archer Danial (ADM) and others is a less then desirable way to make money...just ask me I sell to the military establishment..a much more honarable way to make money...DVC

Being a Toolmaker/Machinist, I built the aft enclosures for the cruise missiles that killed thousands upon thousands of women and children the first Iraq war. I'm sorry...after seeing the carnage on CNN, I wasn't feeling any honor for my part in it. I would rather see Ag commodities any day.

[ty.gregory]

Originally Posted by minaret

Read more carefully- I bought the book when it was first released, at which point it's price on kindle was $9.99.

You bought high. The trick is to buy low and sell high. You'd be a lousy trader.

It's good that you build things.

Also, you seem to think you know people without actually ever meeting them. I bet, rather than being a therapist, a shrink, a car salesman, a politico,a statesman, a teacher, an artist, a reporter, a cop, or a good neighbor, its better that you build things,not a bad thing to be (by the way), but maybe a ticket taker in a tunnel would also be good job for you-- so you wouldn't have to deal with people. Let others do the hard stuff.

[ausaviator]

atoll - obviously you've never read their blog or any of the information posted on here previously. Their finances have been clearly communicated on many occasions to date. Disappointing from a fellow "cruiser."