The Proof's on the Telly

They're blaming it on the Great Writer's Strike of 08/09: It's been reported that 6 out of the 19 scripted series (comedies and dramas, not "reality" shows or game shows) slated for next season are going to be reworked foreign offerings. And the lion's share of those are, you guessed it, from Great Britain.

Of course, I disagree with the basic premise that the strike made it somehow harder mine the ideas of local talent.

But in reading an article about the trend, if just hit me like a ton of bricks that some of the most influential shows -- shows that have a major impact on our culture here in North America -- actually sprung from British minds. It's almost a cliche to bring up All in the Family and Three's Company when discussing this topic, but when you see them amongst the others, it's pretty impressive:

All in the Family
Sanford and Son
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
American Idol
Dancing with the Stars
The Office

These aren't tiny little shows ... these are major water-cooler-conversation shows, shows that contribute catchphrases, cheesy products, and spinoffs. Shows that launch legendary careers, ranging from Rob Reiner to Kelly Clarkson.

Naturally, the list could be much, much longer if they'd leave the bloody things alone and just air them as is. After all, there's only one Carroll O'Connor, and only one John Ritter. Case in point: Are you telling me that Harvey Korman (bless his memory) ever had one moment in his entire comedy career that was half as funny as the scene were John Cleese beats up his car in Fawlty Towers? Why did they even try and adaptation? Were the references that incomprehensible to an American audience? Nutt House was cancelled after six episodes, even though Mel Brooks was an executive producer, and even though my fellow alumn, Brian MacNamara had a recurring role.

Ditto for the Stephen Moffat creation, Coupling. That show, featuring Jack Davenport from the Pirates of Caribbean films and Richard Coyle as the insane Welchman Jeff Murdock, was one of the most inventive sitcoms I've ever seen. The American version came and went in just 10 episodes even though they performed the Moffat scripts nearly word for word.

It's amazing they never did a show called "Morry Cobra's Soaring Carnival" or "Mr. Franks and Beans" or something.

And Now for Something Completely Different

Jonathan Ross had the comedian and game show presenter Roy Walker on his radio show last weekend. They kept talking about a famous blooper from Walker's show Catchphrase that everyone had seen on YouTube. Well, I hadn't seen it, and I had to bring it to all of you.

The version below kind of condenses the action ... they also have unedited version on YouTube. But this really happened, even though a censored version is what aired on ITV back in the 90s.

Will England Finally Drag the US into the World Sporting Community?

Don't miss the excellent profile on Lewis Hamilton in last Sunday's New York Times mag. I just got around to reading it (two days late ... not too shabby), and I must say the first couple of pages are an excellent primer on the sport of Formula 1 racing. Hamilton is F1's 23-year old prodigy, and current golden boy.

The article was written by Cathy Horyn, who is normally a fashion reporter, and she did a much better job of introducing the sport to American readers than a sports journalist would have.

For the uninitiated, F1 (aka Grand Prix racing) is the kind of racing that's actually good and exciting (ergo, it's popular in Britain and the rest of world, but is largely unknown here). They 're the cool-looking machines that go 250 miles an hour through city streets and around hairpin-turn tracks ... in short, they make NASCAR vehicles look like tinker toys.

If you've heard of Hamilton, you've probably heard of him as "Tiger Woods of racing." Ignore the similarity in their skin colour. I think the analogy has more to do with the fact that Woods took a game for rich old men and made it cool. Hamilton, the son of a former London Underground and British Rail employee, is poised to do the same thing.

When I was a kid, some of my friends watched English soccer on PBS. I myself, went to a couple of NY Cosmos games feature Pele. Still, footie as a spectator sport still hasn't caught on here as everyone predicted -- despite the fact that it's a rite of passage for the entire generation coming up today.

It's a lot to put on the shoulders of someone so young, but I really feel like Lewis Hamilton really has the ability to make history here and to bring this sport to unwashed masses on this side of the Atlantic.

Go Team McLaren!

The French British Connection

It's uncanny. Sometimes it seems that nearly everything I enjoy in the media of has some kind of connection to the UK.

Take Battlestar Galactica. I've known for ages that there are a couple of British characters -- that's obvious. But it wasn't until recently that I found out that one of the main leads, Lee Adama (Apollo), is played by a Brit. Yep, Jamie Bamber is from Hammersmith. Click here to hear his real voice.

Everyone's raving about The Dark Night? British director.

As a kid, I went to the Rocky Horror Picture Show about a dozen times. (Was that sharing too much? I didn't dress up or anything.) It wasn't until years later that I learned how British RHPS truly is. It originated in London, it was filmed in Berkshire ... Tim Curry and Richard O'Brien are both subjects of the Queen ...

I just have to figure out the British angle on a couple of other important things in my life -- Bruce Springsteen and the Mets are two that spring to mind -- and my theory will be complete.

Obama for PM

It makes sense that Barack Obama wrapped up his hugely successful trip abroad with a visit to London. He met with both Labour's Gordy and David Cameron (he of the loyal opposition ... and who many, many people feel with be the next PM, since Labour is having a spot of bother of late).

In fact, it was the Tory leader who seemed to get on best with the presumptive nominee/messiah, suggesting that he go on holiday and not let anyone muck around with his diary when he does become the leader of the free world.

Obama also "met" with adoring crowds -- which is why I suggest that he could be elected PM in addition to president.

Interestingly, he avoided the usual talk of the "special relationship," favouring the phrase "transatlantic alliance." But the main thrust was well anglophiliac. Here's a quote from the man of whom the Guardian said, "He came, he saw, he sprinkled us with stardust."

"We just like the people [of the UK]! There is a deep and abiding affection for the British people in America and a fascination with all things British that's not going to go away any time soon."

You had me at "transatlantic alliance," Mr O, you had me at "transatlantic alliance."

I Reckon That Greenwich Village Will Have to do with One Fewer Queen

About this time last year, there was a lot of talk about establishing a new enclave in New York, an official district like Little Italy or Chinatown. There, in the heart of Greenwich Village, British expats and marketing geniuses alike dreamed of founding Little Britain.

The area, near 12th and Greenwich, does have a few English-inspired and English-owned shops, notably the restaurant Tea and Sympathy, which was head office for the "movement." The Campaign for Little Britain in the Big Apple had rallies, petitions, a video on YouTube starring Tango spokesman Ray Gardner, endorsements by Joss Stone and Kate Winslet ... The whole affair gave loads of nice publicity to Tea and Sympathy, the shops in district, and the sponsor, Virgin Atlantic. The activists's motto is, "What's Another Queen in Greenwich Village?" Good on them.

I went to check on the movement's official website, and now they have a strange message scrolling across the homepage, "Breaking News: New York Shuts Down Little Britain." Yet, when one rolls over the message, it mearly leads one to a pdf file of "7 Reasons Why Greenwich Avenue Needs Little Britain." Mysterious.

If anyone knows what's happening with this effort, please let us know here at Phonybrit. If I learn anything from separate inquiries, I will do a follow up.

The Scary Question

So my wife watched a film on TV the other night, but the last few minutes didn't get recorded on our DVR. When she asked me to pick up the disc at the library, I asked her if it was something that I'd be interested in. She told me I'd hate it: chick flick.

When I got it, I looked at the DVD box and it seemed to take place in England. I said, "Hey is this British"? Emily said, "I guess so, they had accents." Imagine that? Being able to like something or not for its intrinsic value and not because it's a cheap ticket to another country? Not because it provides valuable linguistic glitches or hints of exotic products and habits?

The film was Me Without You. I enjoyed it. But did I enjoy it on its own merits or because it did a nice job of depicting England during various periods (especially my beloved early 1980s)?

That's a scary question.

Cool Jews from Cool Britannia

One of my favourite podcasts is Nextbook. An extension of the Jewish culture and literature website, Nextbook.org, the podcast has a lot of thought provoking stories and interviews.

Since they have a smashing correspondent in London, Hugh Levinson, they are able to cover British Jewry in a way you rarely see. Just a couple of days ago, Levinson posted an interview with filmmaker Vanessa Engle, who has recently aired three films about Judaism on the BBC. (As they point out on the podcast, since the films are not yet available on DVD or any US network, we'll have to wait to see the work itself).

Other Levinson interviews that I've enjoyed are:
*A tour of Brick Street, which, like New York's Lower East Side, now houses the latest group of immigrants.
* A talk with Claudia Rosen, author of The Book of Jewish Food, who talks about British salt beef and fried gefilte fish.
* Some time ago, he also interviewed the writer Naomi Alderman, but I fear that one has been taken off of the site.

All of these pieces shed light on a sub-area with which I've been fascinated for all long time, as I'm both a Jew and an anglophile. While there are many, many similarities, the Jews of England and Scotland (I'm not sure if there are any Welch Jews) are so different to us here in the States.

Years ago, there was a dust-up about the Jews of London wishing to construct and "eruv" fence, which is a nearly invisible wire surrounding a community. Attempts to stop the installation of the eruv prompted suggestions of deep anti-semitism in the UK. There was an article in the New York Times about the controversy in which they pinpointed the problem with Jewry in that part of the world. You can be an English Jew, but a Jew cannot be ethnically English. (Although I have a Jewish friend with family in Manchester who's a dead ringer for Pete Townshend.) Remember, when the Jews came to England, it was virtually homogeneous. Today, it's a completely different story. With the influx of Asians and West Indians and Africans, the British Jews seem like right old-timers. The definition of what it means to be English, for example, is changing rapidly.

Yet there was a time when British Jews (and here's the bit that's very different to what I grew up with) seemed to hide in the background: "Oh, don't notice us and our twisty bread on Friday nights." There was a time when nearly every black cab in the capital was driven by a Jew, but you'd hardly hear him chatting about going to "shul." My friend Edward, who grew up Jewish in London, tells a basic schism due to the fact that football matches used to be held mostly on Saturdays ... the rabbis had a difficult time keeping people in the pews and away from the pitch.

Today, being British and Jewish is becoming quite cool. Just ask Sacha Baron Cohen, Amy Winehouse, Joss Stone, Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), and Rachel Stevens (pictured above). And don't forget Madonna lives there, and she's sort of Jewish too!

Neil Gaiman Follow Up

Well, I finished the audio verison of Anansi Boys. I had posted earlier, that it was a drag that the talk I'd been hearing about Lenny Henry's great narration had upset the apple cart of my carefully planned reading list and I promised to blog about my impressions.

The result?

Lenny Henry, indeed, does an incredible job. He approaches narration in the tradition of Jim Dale's Harry Potter recordings, more acting than reading. Both Dale and Henry create myriad voices and personalities -- and in the case of Anansi Boys, myriad accents too. Just off the top of my head, there's a variety of West Indian characters, posh Brits, Northern accents, London accents, an American ... the gamut. Very entertaining.

As for the book, I'm not much of a one for magical realism, so those parts of the story were less interesting to me, but I did enjoy it as a visit to the UK (the action takes place in Florida, London, an island called St. Andrews, and various alternate universes). Gaiman is a skilled storyteller and he creates extremely likable characters.

If it were me coming fresh to this again, I would "abso-tively" [a favourite word of one of the characters] pick up the audio version. The made-out-of-trees version might be less fun for those who like their reality real (unless it's full out scifi).

Spaced Out on Ali G and More

Good news: Spaced is out on DVD. The BBC show was a very intelligent comedy that served as a launching board for director Edgar Wright, plus Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, all of "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz."

Of course, lots of the show is already available on YouTube. I reckon the BBC have worked out how to deal with YouTube in a way that's good for both parties. Here's a little taste of episode 2 (picked only because it's funnier faster ... feel free to go back and start with episode 1 of series 1).



But getting started on YouTube is pretty dangerous if you're me. French and Saunders interviews; the Mighty Boosh; Dead Ringers. I'll go out on a limb. British comedy is just much funnier than anything produced here -- I can't imagine how good it would be if I actually understood all the references. My other favorite thing to explore on YouTube is the original Ali G show. Below, please find a travelogue Ali did of Wales ... which, as everyone knows, is "the fish with the biggest dick in the ocean." That Cohen is one funny bloke.

Well Done, Cavendish. Good on Ya'.

Just a short post to update those who aren't following the the Tour de France. After having secured another stage of the race, Cavendish is no longer in the competition. Yet, he has achieved more than any other British cyclist. So, "Good on Ya', Mark."

I remember when I was a kid, the cool bike to have was an "English racer." Today, that term doesn't seem to mean much -- maybe a reference to Nigel Mansell or something.

Of course, the 23-year old cyclist has performed so well, the usual suggestions about drugging have been made. I guess no one can be a great athlete anymore and not have that finger pointed at them. And if everyone thinks that he has been drugging, maybe he should have done. But at this moment, it seems as though he's clean ... even though his kit leaves a little to be desired (see left).

Anyway, to celebrate Cavendish's heroics, I shall embed below, a favourite Style Council video. The plot features, inexplicably, a bike race. That Weller was a bit daft during this period, but fab music nonetheless.

And for all those looking for more sport on this blog, result! Football season is just one month away. Go Arsenal. Go Tottenham. Go Man U! For those looking for less sport: unlucky!

Is it Possible to be an Anglophile and Not a Beatlemaniac?

News of another Beatles movie has me a bit twisted around.

The planned film probably won't be at the cinema for at least a year. It will be called Nowhere Boy, and it will be based on the book by John Lennon's half-sister, Julia Baird. I wasn't crazy about the other Beatles biopics, like BackBeat back in '94, and I don't know what to think about this one. It'll have all the right elements: Matt Greenhalgh, who gave us Control (about Joy Division leader Ian Curtis ... it's been languishing in my Netflix queue) will direct.

The main dilemma I have is that when I read the news, oh boy, I wanted to blog about it. But I'm frankly shocked at how often the Beatles have come up since I have launched this project. As I have said before, I don't want this to be a Beatles blog. My main goal is to survey the many entry-points that different people have to this lunacy of loving a country to which one has no particular ties beside the cultural ones. And the Beatles come up again and again.

Now, I'm not one of deify the Fab Four. I remember once when I suggested to a friend that the Beatles were, at the end of the day, a band ... he nearly exploded, screaming about their genius and how they changed everything. Then again, I once worked for a guy who claimed to hate the Beatles, which I thought was a bit of posing. He said that The Who were much more influential -- and better musicians, as well.

The question is: Does loving the Beatles and this level of anglophilia go hand in glove? I'm sure that there are some Beatles fans who don't spend too much time following other elements of British culture ... but are their anglomaniacs out there who aren't fans of the lads from Liverpool?

Ciao, Cavendish!

Mark Cavendish's amazing performance at the Tour de France (he's the first Briton to have won three legs of the race and looks to be the likely winner) has put me in mind of a film that affected me greatly as a lad -- as coming-of-age films should do. This piece of cinema history, written by Steven Tesich, was 1979's Breaking Away. It comes as close as any work of art I know of to describing the phenomenon I'm exploring here ... but the lead character is an Italophile instead of an Anglophile.

In Breaking Away, Dennis Christopher plays an Indiana boy who has convinced himself that he's going to be a great Italian bicycle racer. But he buys into the whole thing: the food, the music, the whole Italian vibe. According to the trailer, he renames himself Enrico Gimondi (though I don't remember that detail). He calls his cat Fellini, and speaks incessantly in half-assed Italian learned from a phrasebook.

Believe me, I understand the obsession with Italy and all things Italian ... but that's for another blog. But there is something special about the laser-like mind of a teenage boy that makes them thrust themselves into something like this for a year or two. Of course, we never completely shake whatever that obsession is. Nick Hornby talks about the same thing in his memoirs, Fever Pitch: He becomes football-mad as a teenager while getting over his parents's divorce, and the obsession stays with him for the rest of his life.

I remember an interview with someone on NPR -- the was donkey's years ago -- in which the interviewee claimed to speak with an English accent for a solid year when he was around 14.

Is this kind of fixation immature? Is it daft? And if it is all those things, is that so wrong?

Ain't No Cure for the Summer Time Blues :-(

There's always so much going on during the summer ... and it makes me a little tetchy.

Today is the last day of Ricky Gervais's standup show at Madison Square Garden and I just can't go. At least it's being recorded for an HBO special. And the trailer for his new movie is up on his site, so I'd definitely be there.

Loads of my favorite 80s Brit bands are on tour, as well. Who did I hear was going to be in New York? Was it the Cure? I'll think of it. Maybe I'll make up for my current doldrums by booking tickets to one of those.

The British Are Coming (in the form of technology)

On my new GPS unit, the voice instructions were quite harsh so I toyed around with the menus a bit. Yes, my switching the language setting to "British English" had a lot to do with my being an Anglo-nerd. But it also just sounded better (click video above, depicting a sample maneuver very near my house). We have a long tradition of British-sounding robots, from C3PO to auto-callers hawking all kinds of products. The English accent, to American ears sounds authoritative, yet helpful. It's sort of like when BBC1 radio uses that same American announcer that we get on our classic rock stations announcing the frequency. He just sounds like a rock station announcer.

But what really surprised me was during a trip to mall yesterday, at the pay station (yeah, the Westchester Mall make you pay for parking), the voice instructing you when to put in your money, etc. had a decidedly cockney accent. Not quite Eliza Doolittle, but definitely an extra "ay" in "staytion." Can it be that *any* British accent makes us like technology more -- and accept having to pay 3 bucks so that you can spend money for an hour?

Maybe it's a new version of our own economic imperialism, but going the other way. The Brits already have the best entertainment, and now they're beginning to own technology too. Earlier this week, The Guardian have bought the American business blog paidContent.org for around 15 million quid. Rockstar Games are already in millions of American homes with their Grand Theft Auto series.

Something tells me that with the plunging price of the dollar, our cousins in the UK are just starting their shopping spree.

Lenny Henry Has Thrown a Spanner Into My Summer Reading List

I had taken a detour from Zadie Smith, Mark Haddon, and Nick Hornby, etc. to listen to Sarah Vowell read her own Assassination Vacation (even I have other interests than BritLit). I even have my next book, a real thick one from Martin Amis at the ready.

But I've really been enjoying this recorded book thing (formerly known as books on tape), especially good during long dog walks. And I suddenly remembered a rave review I heard on a radio show I listen to called the Bryant Park Project. The book is Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. Normally, I totally ignore those Oprah-type book clubs in mass media, but I remembered them talking about how great the audio version is. Actually, I remembered being amused and perplexed that they were talking about the narrator, Lenny Henry, as though they didn't know who he is. They didn't know who the star of "Chef!" is? They probably don't even know that he's married to Dawn French. They probably don't know that Dawn French is half if the comedy team of French & Saunders. They probably don't know who Jennifer Saunders is -- hang on a sec, they probably do know Saunders because of Absolutely Fabulous.

I had forgotten the name of the book, and when I went back to the BBP's blog I discovered that I was not the only one outraged by their ignorance. Check out this on-line row. The postings left me a little ambivalent. I was glad that there were so many like-minded Anglomaniacs out there. But sad that amazing Brits like Lenny Henry aren't mainstream in this country for some reason.

Now armed with the title of the book, I previewed the audio on iTunes. They were right, of course. Book reading has to be one of the most challenging acting/voiceover jobs on the planet. Personally, I'd be rubbish at it. Actually, I'd act it out okay, but it would take about 10 year to record. But Lenny's VO is as smooth as if he was thinking up the words at that moment. It's a rare treat because I don't think he usually does narration, and did it as a favor to Gaiman, with whom he's mates.

No, I am not going to suggest a Phonybrit book club. But I will get back to you after I've completed the recording with a little review. In the meantime, order a copy from the library -- it comes very highly recommended.

It's my Birthday Too, Yeah

I spent my birthday weekend experiencing a phenomenon that I'd only heard about until now: The Butties reunion weekend in Vermont. The Butties are a Beatles tribute band and they're now in their 25th year. In fact, I first saw them play in the mid-80s in Syracuse, NY. Each July, they descend on the Londonderry/Manchester area of Vermont and the locals don't know what hit them.

I've always maintained that the Beatles were kind of a special case, but they are certainly an on ramp for a lot of anglophiles. And these guys are hardcore. During the show, they'll ask really tough trivia questions ... you even need a British-American dictionary to decipher their name. In the UK (especially the UK during the era when the Beatles were growing up), butty = sandwich, presumable with some butter in involved. The young Beatles were keen jam butty eaters.

So it's clear that there's a deep Beatlemanic/anglophile connection.

The Butties met in college. They are:
* Mark Humble, an insanely talented singer/songwriter. Mark is currently writing and composing children's CDs/book sets.

* Sam Lloyd, a very popular actor, probably best-known as Ted Buckland, the lawyer on Scrubs.

* Paul F. Perry, an Emmy-nominated composer. (Paul has also appeared on TV, with Sam, as a member of The Blanks.)

* Robbo Morey, a philosophy professor and musical director.

You've probably heard them before ... their Christmas album is everywhere during the winter season. You can listen to their imaginative takes on popular carols at the iTunes store.

Divided by a Common Language

I have this idea for a project (more details later, perhaps) and it's made me a nutter. It'll require that I learn an incredible amount of British English and it's going to be even harder than I thought.

Language has to be one of my main passions when it comes to my particular brand of Anglophelia. I love language for a start and when you add on top of it the fact that I already understand about 75 percent of it ... but it's that other 25 percent.

The most common words, like jumper for instance, can really send you screaming. (It means sweater.) Why jumper? Why sweater is a better question. I guess you can jump in them, or sweat in them ... jumper seems more civilized to me.

So I've been pouring through books like British English A to Zed. The Introduction has my new favorite story about the differences between the two dialects. It seems that during the preparations for D-Day, the members of the "special relationship" had a huge row over the word "table." It seems that both parties felt that a certain issue should be dealt with immediately. But in American, to "table" a topic means to put it aside for some more convenient time. In British, if means to address it right away, like to put it right out there on the table for everyone to deal with. Apparently a lot of frustration ensued.

As for me, I'll be glad when I don't have to think so hard when I hear something like, "Let's have pizza for tea."

Conversely, it would be pretty tough to shake Americanisms. On one of the breakfast shows I listen to on my iPod, they were having a go at someone because they were visiting the States. They kept saying things like, "Are you going to stand *on line* when you get there? Are you going to use a faucet?" I didn't even realize that the word faucet was virtually unknown there. To them it's strictly a "tap." They never heard of a spigot either.

I love it all -- and I'm sort of sad when I hear how common the word "guys" has become. Where ones there were blokes, claps and "Hey you lot," it's often been replaced by the less vivid "guys." Okay. I'm done sounding like William Safire.

"They Said I Should Go to Glasto, I Said 'No, No, No'"

Since my Mac's hard drive is bullocksed up, I'm blogging a couple of updates to previous posts.

Glasto A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned being excited about the Glastonbury Festival. Seems some people didn't share my enthusiasm. "Glasto" (because cool indie rockers are too cool to say "nbury") had more than its share of controversy. First, Noel Gallagher and Jay-Z traded barbs. The Oasis guitar player questioned the appropriateness of bringing hip-hop to the chilled-out concert. The rapper retorted by doing a tone-deaf version of "Wonderwall." But after seeing the performance itself, the Manchester native said that Jay-Z was "great."

This was amongst a huger-than-normal meltdown by Amy Winehouse. She's now a total mentalist. While she was on a brief reprieve from the London Clinic, she performed and had time to slug yet another fan. I've lost count of how many that make it, but she has to keep her hands to herself. She only weighs about 3 stone (1 stone = 14 pounds) not counting the beehive, and someone is going to hit her back.

Oh, and Lily Allen now has a new hair color.

The Beeb After the post about the BBC's annual report, I saw that BBC are experiencing a row over pay rises and bonuses. This is especially acute due a big scandal that I didn't know about until just this week. It seems that they have got themselves into several "phone-in" scandal. Among other things, it seemed that they rigged a contest to name a cat on the afternoon kids' show, Blue Peter. The viewers voted for Cookie, but he's called Socks. I'm not kidding.

BBC 7 / BBC Heaven

It's annual report time for the Beeb, and just like every year, there's a kerfuffle over the licence fees. According to this report from American Public Media's Marketplace, the the networks take in $6 billion -- 6 thousand million. And the bulk of that money still comes from the license fee.

The license fee is a mandatory fee for anyone in the UK with a television set, and it's been going on for decades. Instead of fund drives, the authorities have developed all kinds of technologies for
detecting if a given household has a telly and they cross reference that to make sure they're not freeloaders.

It's amazing to me, in the age of Sky TV and cable and dishes and Internet that this is still going on. But they must be doing something right. Just off the top of my head, look at what they've produced over the last few decades -- and this isn't even mentioning the news:
Doctor Who
Monty Python
Upstairs Downstairs
Red Dwarf
As Time Goes By
French and Saunders
The Vicar of Dibley
Coupling
... I could keep going for pages ...

Yet, today, when I've been lucky enough to get to somewhere carrying BBC America (my local cable company doesn't carry it and I can't get the dish) it's all been reality shows and games shows -- not my cup of tea.

And don't they get money from BBC America and the exports of all the great shows over here (I'm including the documentaries that they co-produce with the Discovery Channel and PBS)? I guess not enough, not if they want to keep making the amazing documentaries and other expensive programming that rarely makes it across the pond.

Sea and Sand

Ah, bank holiday weekends in the summer. During the early '60s, that meant one thing: a trip on your Vespa to Brighton.

This is the culture captured by the album and film, Quadrophenia. Pete Townshend's masterpiece (yes, it supersedes Tommy IMHO) translated beautifully to the screen in 1979. I always find it hard to believe only six years separated the record and the film, and only 10 years between the record and the events they portray. The mod revival of the late 70s seemed so far removed from the riots in which the cool, cool Mods and those greasy Rockers clashed.

One of the things I did during this American "bank holiday" was dust off my DVD of the film and re-watch my favourite of the extras buried in the menus ... this little gem alone is worth netflixing the film, especially if you haven't seen it in a while. (And if you haven't seen it at all ... well, you're really in for a treat.)

It's a video journey from Trafalgar Square to the beach -- an hour-long trip -- in six minutes, traveling mostly on the A23. It has a great feature in which you can toggle between a little inset of a road map and the sped-up video itself. It's a little mental to pretend your Jimmy and his mates on their scooters, ready to make history, but if you're reading this you're probably a bit mad for a start.

** Thank you to the New Forest Scooter Club for the use of the photo.

Happy "Independence" Day

Unless there's some big news, I may take the 4th off (and I usually don't blog on Saturdays as well).

It's an appropriate time to ponder the question of how independent we really are in America if we rely on the UK so heavily to set the trends in music, entertainment, etc. With everyone playing Grand Theft Auto (produced by UK's own Rockstar Games), with Coldplay at the top of the charts, and Brits leading theatre, cinema, and television ... In a world where pop culture is the culture, how independent are we? Of course, I say, bring it on!

So as a holiday treat, I'll leave you with a couple of bits and bobs/odds and sods pointing out that are a little different to the way we do things here (read like Jerry Seinfeld):
*What is the deal with A4 paper -- can't we agree on the same paper size?
*What is Marmite made out of and why do people love it so much?
*Why haven't we heard of The Mighty Boosh on this side of the Atlantic?
*Why don't Americans use the stone system of measuring a person's weight? Better yet, how can the Brits still hold onto this tradition, plus English, plus metric? They must be very clever.
*Don't get me started with the driving on the left thing.

Feel free to come up with some more of these. Happy 4th of July.

The Second Fab Four Post

I'm shocked that there's been so much Beatles news since I started this project. This isn't a Beatles blog, but since the lads from Liverpool were and entry point to a million Anglophiliacs, I couldn't ignore it all. Apparently, there's a lot of new scholarship surrounding the crucial period when the Beatles decided to stop touring, opening the gates to Sgt. Pepper and changing music forever.

First, the president of Eastside Pictures send me this link. It seems that a radio interview including John, Paul, George, and Ringo has surfaced from a South London garage -- and it's still broadcast quality. It was recorded on April 30, 1964, just a couple of years before their momentous decision to stop playing live. According to the report, Paul says about the screaming fans: "We love that, the atmosphere in the theaters. It's marvelous." Of course, we know that in reality, they hated the extremeness of it all and the fact that they couldn't hear each other or themselves.

Secondly, two other Beatlemaniacs in my life have their knickers in a twist about this piece in the Guardian. A bootleg tape of a summer 1966 concert that the lads did in Memphis has emerged. What makes it of so much interest to scholars is that a definite explosion can be heard -- part of the little-known Cherry Bomb incident. Remember, this is right after Lennon's famously misunderstood quote, "We're more popular than Jesus now." That remark didn't go over too well in Tennessee. One of my Beatles-mad friends checked and indeed, George mentions this firework in his Anthology interview of 1995, and a contributing factor in their decided to stay home. It might even be the straw that broke the camel's back; it was starting to get dangerous out there. First a cherry bomb -- next a pipe bomb?

Haunting, of course, since George was attacked by a knife-wielding maniac and John ... [I don't have to finish that sentence.]

I'm not big on what-if games, but it is interesting to ponder if the Beatles would have/could have done what they did in the studio if they continued the road show.

Doctor Wha?

I'm not even going to give you the link of the Guardian's Organgrinder blog, because despite the huge words *spoiler alert* right in the beginning of yesterday's entry, it's impossible to read much of it without finding out stuff you don't want to know.

We get each episode in the US on the SciFi network a few weeks after it has aired on the Beeb, so to us this would really be a spoiler. What I can tell you is that the last episode or this series (in American, that's "season"), is meant to be an incredible, jaw-dropping cliffhanger that really make you wonder what next season will bring.

From where I stand, I was please to have Steve Moffat taking over. I always thought thought his comedy, Coupling, was very inventive. Plus the previous guiding light, Russel T Davies, had to devote some more time to the spinoffs: Torchwood and the Sarah Jane Adventures.

One thing that's been very interesting about this project is hearing back from people about what I call their "entry point" -- how their fascination with England started. For many, many people, it was Tom Baker, the 4th doctor that hooked many fascinated 12-year olds via PBS reruns. Most of those 12-year olds turned into dedicated adult Anglophiles. (Quick primer: Doctor Who is a scifi series that started in 1962. The main character has the power to "regenerate" -- so far nine actors have played the Doctor.)

Me, I somehow missed Tom Baker ... I think it was on too late or something. I have only seen a handful of scenes with him, but I've seen everything with numbers 8 and 9, Christopher Eccelston and David Tennant, respectively.

I just hope they don't change things too drastically.