Ten things I had forgotten I love about the United Kingdom:
- Quality Street
- Whot! (a card game)
- Jasper Carrott
- Woolies (alas, no more, sniff)
- Mind Your Language
- Charity shops (That's usually 50p, but this week it's only 25p, luv)
- Tango Fruit Twist
- Football pools (home win!)
- Kate Bush
- Lad's mags (Front, Loaded, Zoo, Nuts)
And ten things I had forgotten that irritate me now:
- Jonathan Ross
- The weather (bloody cold, innit?)
- Unhelpful sales assistants
- The ubiquitous grunt (could mean yes, no, on your bike mate, or anything else really)
- Stores that close at 5 in the evening
- Small roads
- X-Factor (it's everywhere)
- Jeremy Paxman
- Ice as an optional extra in your drink
- Ridiculously small baggage allowances
And ten nice surprises on this trip:
- Gemma Atkinson calendars
- Swim (an Irish band from the early '90's)
- Rainbow Six Las Vegas
- A Blackadder documentary, followed by a Shooting Stars documentary
- A single by Jimmy Tarbuck
- Surplus Woolies stock (Courteeners for a quid, great!)
- The new Robert Goddard novel
- A cool 80's T-Shirt from New Line
- Waking The Dead
- Facing some ghosts, head on (no, not real ghosts, I mean my dim and distant past)
6 comments:
Sounds like you are having an ab-fab time. Wonderful!
Cheers,
MissP
X
Wait, you're there?! Go to Geale's in Notting Hill for dinner. It's on Farm St (or Farmer?) behind the theater. Nice fish place, not too pricey. :)
That Shooting Stars documentary was the funniest thing on TV this Christmas bar none. (even funnier than the actual new edition of Shooting Stars.)
Lads' mags, though? Purlease! All airbrushed bimbos and articles about Jeremy Clarkson and the Falklands. Probably. Bah!
Nope, When Saturday Comes and The Word, they're the mags for me. Still, though, each to their own. ;)
Just to clarify...the thing I like about the so called "lad's mags" is that there is, in Europe generally, a less sanctimonious attitude to male interests than in the US and it's good to be reminded that the odd nipple here and there is not going to destroy civilization as we know it.
I don't actually buy the mags myself (too old really) so I couldn't comment on the articles. Honest! :)
And I did buy Word magazine (hence the Kate Bush reference) which is a great read these days.
Mind Your Language???? I presume nostalgia, not appreciation of high-brow comedy, informed that choice.
I'd have loved to see the Blackadder docu. And Shooting Stars was great (Ulrika-ka-ka). Hmm, with that confession I might have undermined my right to be dismissive about Mind Your Language.
I can't quibble with any of the items on your list. I grew up in LA but lived in London for 2 years as an adult. I really, really hated it at first. But one night at a pub listening to a talented band that enthusiastically covered one after another of great songs by Britain's old rock and roll heroes helped me change my attitude. It was remarkable because, aside from the most well-known artists, I had forgotten how many other fantastic musicians came from Britain. Suddenly that great British heritage was ringing in my ears. The band even threw in some Elvis to mix things up a little.
Speaking of Notting Hill, is the pub with the good thai food still around and thriving? Hope so.
If you see Harry, give him the back of your hand for me.
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