Shall We Jubilate?

I really don't mind all the celebrations around the Queen's Jubilee. And I suppose it's perfectly fine for any country to mark an anniversary like this. No, what nags at me is the vocalization of the idea that we should ALL be grateful for Her Majesty's 60 years on the throne. This is where it differs from most American holidays. Yes, we celebrate the 4th of July as Independence Day, but you would have a hard time finding Americans asking each other how excited they were about the country. We tend to see the day as an excuse to relax and party. But here in the UK, people are genuninely buzzed about the Queen and her 6 decades of reign. And they see this excitement as natural, and its lack as problematic. Quite intelligent people will watch the Queen float down the Thames on a barge, and will tell you that the Queen holds the country together. It must be good that she holds the country together, because otherwise her contributions would be...what, exactly? Or, more crudely stated, WTF?

TV Wasteland

My son asked this wonderful, childlike question the other day: "Where are all the good British TV shows? You know, like Boardwalk Empire and Homeland."

OK, he's 19 and we were watching Homeland, but still: Out of the mouths of babes...

We patiently explained to him that he was forgetting some of the shows we really enjoy, like Sherlock. "But that was just three episodes!" he exclaimed. "Yes, son, but they couldn't afford to make any more."

If you don't like reality TV, it's a pretty ghastly landscape out there. Plus if you're too cheap to buy Sky. Like me. So it's my own fault, really.

A passing thought

Everyone knows you drive on the left in the UK. (If you don't know this, please don't drive here.)
Everyone who drives in the UK knows you pass on the right. Makes sense: Slow traffic hugs the outside lane where the entrances and exits are (expecially on motorways).
When it comes to escalator placement, same rule. The one on the left is the one you use. The one on the right is for people arriving on your floor.
On an escalator, then, slow traffic (standing) is on the left, right? And people in a hurry walk down on the right, right?
Wrong. Stand on the right, pass on the left.
Why? I blame the metric system and privatisation.

Taxidermy

Tax preparation in the US: $500.
Tax preparation in the UK: £1200 (approx. $1800).
Doing both returns as required of expats: Priceless.

Fast Food - WTF?

There are only two things wrong with British fast food.

The British don't understand fast.

The British don't understand food.

Horror comics - wtf?

On the official list of items that UK Customs forbids us to take to England when we move in August:
- Guns
- Drugs
- Horror comics
...

Horror comics?

WTF?!