February 06, 2002
An Illuminated Donkey Exclusive Special Insider Dispatch from Salt Lake City©: Second in a Series! My younger sister Nancy remains in Salt Lake City, but has informed me that she might not have anything too fascinating to report until the games begin. She did give me a little insight regarding the hordes of crazed pin collectors roaming the streets, accosting innocents like Nancy and demanding to know if they want to trade. I've had some experience as a sports card and comic book collector, and am mailing her some mace for any such future occasions.
On a more interesting note, Justin Slotman over at Blogistan (dammit, Justin, stay away from my sister!) leads me to an Ananova report of thousands of empty motel rooms and unsold event tickets for the upcoming games, with the assumption being that people don’t feel like dealing with the security hassles and the freezing temperatures to watch some guys go sledding down a hill or whatever it is people do in the Winter Olympics.
The best part of the story is the ways in which some European delegations are getting around the extremely prohibitive Utah alcohol regulations (and after the recent spate of Euro-bashing in blogland, it’s great to be able to offer some praise for our friends across the Atlantic):
On a more interesting note, Justin Slotman over at Blogistan (dammit, Justin, stay away from my sister!) leads me to an Ananova report of thousands of empty motel rooms and unsold event tickets for the upcoming games, with the assumption being that people don’t feel like dealing with the security hassles and the freezing temperatures to watch some guys go sledding down a hill or whatever it is people do in the Winter Olympics.
The best part of the story is the ways in which some European delegations are getting around the extremely prohibitive Utah alcohol regulations (and after the recent spate of Euro-bashing in blogland, it’s great to be able to offer some praise for our friends across the Atlantic):
Strict drinking rules in Utah may also be contributing to the games' failure to be a sell-out. Residents of the state are overwhelmingly Mormon and drink an average of just eight pints of beer a year. Bars are banned from selling anything but watered-down beer which has a maximum of 3.2% alcohol, and drinkers wanting anything stronger have to join "private clubs" at a cost of five dollars (£3.50).Way to go, Europe! This has been An Illuminated Donkey (Not-So-Exclusive-As-It-Turns-Out) Special Insider Dispatch from Salt Lake City©: Second in a Series!
Restaurants serve drink, but only to people buying food - and until last year, could not even put alcoholic drinks on the menu, meaning wine lists were banned. And people are not allowed to bring alcohol across Utah's state borders, as its sale is controlled and taxed at 78.1%. […]
To get around the restrictions, diplomats from Germany, Italy, Austria, Slovakia and Switzerland have set up temporary consulates which can sell alcohol tax-free.
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