On Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:39:50 -0500, "Gregory Morrow"
> wrote:

>
>Goomba wrote:
>
>> blake murphy wrote:
>>
>> >
>> > i know a few people who had a ball in havana when it was run by the
>> > mob.
>> >
>> > your pal,
>> > blake
>> >
>> Havana was such a hot party town in the thirties,forties and fifties
>> wasn't it? I understand it had great nightclubs and music, and very
>> welcoming to American dollars back then. I know people who have gone to
>> international conferences there but I can't recall them praising the much?
>
>
>Nowadays the conferences would be held in hotels and facilities that are
>pretty much segregated from ordinary Cubans, the tourist infrastucture
>(inclusive beach resorts...) that has been built in the last 20 years was
>designed to shield tourists - and their money - from everyday Cuban life...
>
>Havana was a Fleshpot Of The World pre - Castro, some of my older friends
>have told some wild stories. They'd drive to Key West and take their car to
>Havana in the ferries that used to ply that route. Gambling, sex, drugs,
>any and everything was wide - open. Cubana Airlines in the 50's would run
>overnight flights from Miami to the Havana casinos, there was gambling and a
>cabaret show even aboard the airliner.
>
>Fun reading:
>
>A 1950 article (there are links on this page to many great articles
>describing the vices of pre - 1959 Cuba...):
>
>http://cuban-exile.com/doc_201-225/doc0208.html
>
>[Excerpt]
>
>Sin - With A Rhumba Beat!"
>
<snip some good stuff>

the guy i had in mind was and accountant or something who lived with
his mother in brooklyn. but for two weeks every year in havana he
went hog ****ing wild, drinking, gambling and whoring. then he'd drag
his bedraggled ass back to mama and start dreaming of next year.

your pal,
blake

blake murphy wrote:

> On Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:01:03 -0700, Blinky the Shark
> > wrote:
>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:02:50 -0700, Blinky the Shark
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:24:14 +0200, "Giusi" >
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>People from other countries who come and go freely and know lots of Cubans
>>>>>>from there or from meeting them in countries where they study, work, etc,
>>>>>>have a very different view of Cuba to that of USians.
>>>>>
>>>>> Believe it or not, Giusi, the only people who still don't want to
>>>>> visit Cuba are the expat patrons in Florida. The rest of us are
>>>>> chomping at the bit.
>>>>
>>>>I don't want to visit Cuba. I'm not an expat Cuban.
>>>
>>> To each his own. I'm not gaga over visiting Italy, or anywhere
>>> Mediterranean, for instance.
>>
>>I'd visit anywhere in Europe before I'd visit Cuba. Even France, for
>>God's sake.
>
> Asia's crowded and Europe's too old
> Africa is far too hot
> And Canada's too cold
> And South America stole our name
> Let's drop the big one
> There'll be no one left to blame us
>
> We'll save Australia
> Don't wanna hurt no kangaroo
> We'll build an All American amusement park there
> They got surfin', too

It's interesting, I think, that the following was written in 1953:

The Merry Minuet

They're rioting in Africa.
They're starving in Spain.
There's hurricanes in Florida.
And Texas needs rain.

The whole world is festering
With unhappy souls.
The French hate the Germans.
The Germans hate the Poles.

Italians hate Yugoslavs.
South Africans hate the Dutch.
And I don't like
Anybody very much!

But we can be tranquil
And thankful and proud,
For man's been endowed
With a mushroom shaped cloud.

And we know for certain
That some lovely day,
Someone will set the spark off
And we will all be blown away.

They're rioting in Africa.
There's strife in Iran.
What nature doesn't do to us
Will be done by our fellow man.


I think I still have the Kingston Trio's version on an LP.


--
Blinky
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