Blog Archives
“The traditional English tea ceremony”
Happy Friday! I wanted to share this brilliant comic by Joe Berger & Pascal Wyse that was posted to The Guardian.
Look familiar? 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend!
20 London bars you should have been to by now
World’s End
Where has this list been all of my life? Check out Buzzfeed.com’s roundup of the 20 best most interesting London bars, including the World’s End, allegedly the largest pub in the world (not to be confused with the latest movie by Simon Pegg).
Ode to John Oliver
Jon Stewart has returned to “The Daily Show,” after leaving the show in John Oliver’s very capable hands for the past 12 weeks while he shot a movie. I’ve really enjoyed John Oliver’s British spin on the news this summer. He’s a great comic and will be sad to see him go (don’t get me wrong, I still love Jon Stewart!).
Here’s a mixtape of John Oliver’s best “Daily Show” moments!
The joy of Ikea
How was your three-day weekend (for the Americans in the room)? If your weekend was anything like mine, it was over much too quickly!
Yesterday we went to Ikea, which was busy busy busy with a good international crowd. It seemed like no matter which direction we turned, there was someone speaking a different language – all united by one Swedish furniture store.
I couldn’t help but notice the international flavor of the prints on display, as well. London, as well as Paris and New York City, were showcased in a big way:
Motif created by Greg Stott. Mounted picture. $49.99
Motif created by Leo Dolan. Mounted. $49.99
Motif created by Tom Frazier. Printed on canvas. $19.99
We didn’t buy any new prints on this shopping trip, but we did get a new mattress, some espresso cups, a kids’ rug, some of these and a few other small bits and bobs. One thing to note: Ikea has discontinued its offer of 1% off your next order when paying with a debit card! (I wish we had known about this before we finished checking out…)
Curses!
The Times of London reports a government source has called Ed Miliband a ” f****** c*** and a copper-bottomed s***”.
Cursing has been top of mind this week and I’ve been thinking a bit about the differences between British and American sensibilities around bad language.
I had just read Threec’s entertaining blog post, “Is ‘bloody’ really a swear word?”, which successfully argues that Americans are just more buttoned-up about bad language than Brits. And then I read this amazing little Daily Beast report about yesterday’s House of Commons vote against military action in Syria:
“Embarrassed by his failure, [David] Cameron’s team lashed out at opponents of the intervention. A government source told The Times of London that Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, was ‘a f****** c*** and a copper-bottomed s***’ for withdrawing support for military action.”
Whaaa? My first thought: Was this quote actually in the newspaper? Did The Times of London really spell out a f****** c*** and a copper-bottomed s*** without the asterisks? I love the color and candor of such a quote! I clicked on the link to the Times story, but sadly it requires a subscription to view in full.
However, it’s safe to say that I can’t see any reputable American newspaper ever publishing that anyone was a f****** c*** and a copper-bottomed s***, with or without asterisks. Can you?
Benedict Cumberbatch name generator
Looking for a way to wile away your Thursday? Try the Benedict Cumberbatch name generator!
I am Honkytonk Creamsicle! And Bentobox Candygram! And Rinkydink Snickersbar! I can’t stop clicking …
Brits love French cheese
Wow! In 2012, almost 115,000 tonnes of French cheese were exported to the UK, according to this recent article in The Guardian. Of that, just under 2,995 tonnes were “pressed cooked” cheese, which includes abondance, comté, beaufort and emmental – up from 1,631 tonnes in 2000. Quelle surprise!
How to throw a British party
No British party would be complete without these decorations, courtesy of Chickabug. Items include bunting, water bottle labels, cupcake wrappers and toppers, and thank you cards. Jolly good!
Britain: Accept no imitations
I spotted this on Reddit.com and wanted to share this little bit of obvious British propaganda! 😉
BRITRISH.COM 