Wednesday 18 January 2012

Death by Slideshow

So Christie returns from her escapades in Laos and Cambodia.

Jane and Andy are teeming with excitement as they have regained power and control over at least one of their children's lives again.

Four of us are crammed onto a three seater couch to be subjected to the most unorganized holiday slide show ever known to man kind. The George family are the toughest critics when it comes to photos which they have had no involvement in or are not featured in.

Christie's photos were actually rather enjoyable. I have always found different cultures fascinating and could honestly say I was interested. Jane on the other hand was far more critical, pointing out when a photo was duplicated, "YOU DUMB! We already saw these!".

I tried a similar feat when we returned from honeymoon but as far as I was concerned was far more professional in execution. Slideshows with themed music based on the country which the photos were from. Latin music in Spain, Carla Bruni in France, Bob Marley in Jamaica... only to discover both Christie and my uncle simultaneously posting about how bored they were on facebook, while I was pre-occupied delving into the significance of the photos we had taken.

My parents also have the tendency of assimilating photos with experiences from their own travels. They attempt to justify their reason for not traveling with "Oh yes, EXACTLY like Thailand" (about most of Cambodia), "Oh yes, we saw similar in Vietnam. It is the same" (about Laos). My personal favourite is when we showed photos of Vegas to my parents which has been a life long dream trip for them. "Oh really? I have seen better at Crown Casino. It's all the same..." Sorry mum and dad, but somehow, I don't think it is. Really. It is not the same.

When my parents travel however, it is a different story. We are subjected to hundreds of photos which fall victim to being out of focus, poor lighting or photos of the floor which they don't know how to delete from the slide show. My mum took around 2 and a half hours to explain her five day trip to hong kong. Come on, there couldn't be that much action?? Five women over 55 in hong kong for five days?? But sure enough, she managed to come up with the material. From what they ate for breakfast to every person they had a conversation with, be it bell boy at the hotel or waiter. Everything is glorious, magnificent, unbelievable even; while our trips.... they are not bad, its all the same really, they have seen it all before.

Until the next memoRANDOM,

George