Sunday, August 01, 2010

SWAG

They seem to have abandoned any real attempt at customs checks upon arrival back home nowadays, but it didn't always used to be like that. Woe betide travellers returning from suspect locations like Amsterdam or Tokyo who could expect to suffer a 'thorough' examination. Drugs, pornography, nasty horror movies, you name it, it was banned in the UK. Thank god for the internet. It's a blessing to be the kind of person not to get stopped, even though that never helped an undeservedly guilty conscience. The shifty avoidance of direct eye contact, the stilted gait, and the SPS (Sweaty Palms Syndrome) is such a tell.

Enjoy some stills from a fabulous new exhibition, I'd love to be able to see it in person. My pick for the most disturbing is 'unknown meat in bottle (prohibited)', while the moral for would-be drug traffickers is not to muscle in on the CIA cartel.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

This post reminds me of a travelling tip: Air France seems to bunch a lot of arrivals from Africa & Asia together early in the morning, creating a huge bottleneck at customs. Chances are better that you won't get inspected for drugs & porn, as I saw LOTS of inspected baggage containing food/medicinal stuffs in murky glass jars.

And re: swag from Japan, I shall continue to bring as much with me in person rather than order from the internet. I hate getting those Parcelforce notices with the shock VAT & £10+ "handling fee" when ordering stuff abroad.