Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

Watching Live Webcams

Yesterday, at noontime where I am (East Coast), I watched drunks on the other side of the world stumble over each other as they tried to walk on the sidewalks of a busy street with several bars. It was after midnight where they were, and though there were several police cars around, they were tolerated.

As a side note, I suspect the word “loitering” or “vagrancy” is a US invention, while the entire world seems to engage in walking the streets, at all times, aimlessly.

Live webcams have turned me into an addict. Placed in any one part of the world, they are the true reality shows and a boon for people watchers. Some webcams are controllable; others, you just sit back and enjoy.

Although I can understand logically what happens as the earth turns, it is a small shock or rather a sense of awe to view the various times of the day or night in the world, when the sun is up where I am or viceversa. Europe is usually 5-7 hours ahead of our time in the East Coast, the same as we are three hours ahead of the West Coast.

Even in the most unlikely places, there are webcams now. Even “Putin” has “put in” (pun intended) live webcams all over Russia as of yesterday. The cameras went online before the opening of polling stations for Russian elections, suddenly making it possible to catch a glimpse of life in the schools, village clubs and other municipal buildings that host the polls. I think this may be the only good thing Putin may have done in his life, giving the people of the world as well as the Russians themselves to get to know each other in a more intimate way.

I love watching the cities of the world or rather tiny pieces of them, like the Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Times Square in NY City, or the harbor of Amsterdam, due to the fact that. I used to travel a lot, but now I don’t because I don’t like the restrictions of the air travel, and also I became too old for the wear and tear of adjusting to jetlag and other taxing conditions. For such reasons, the live webcams are my consolation prizes, and I value greatly the voyeuristic experiences they provide.

There are all kinds of webcams, too, on the web: those that show the action at bars, karaoke joints, places for various kinds of sports, and undersea divers, plus personal webcams like that of a trucker, a bartender etc.

Late last night as I watched the daybreak in a city seven hours ahead of where I am, the idea occurred to me that some great stories can be concocted from the webcams. Next time, a writer has a dry spell, he/she can start with www.earthcam.com. Why not? They are all live prompts, like ripe fruit waiting to be plucked.