A 3 hour tour

Every once in a while I still come across a cultural reference that doesn't translate. It doesn't happen often, but now that I've made some friends it's happening more often. Ross' knowledge base isn't necessarily typical of a British person- especially of his age, so now that I'm regularly conversing with other people I find that it's a whole new world.

The other day I was at the park with a group of my mom friends having a little picnic. One of the boys had a very cute bucket hat on. Sort of like this:

As all babies and the blissfully mentally unburdened do, he had a look of carefree cheer on his sweet face. I took one look at him and proclaimed that he looked like Gilligan. 

Bob Denver as Gilligan

His mother looked at me and replied that she didn't know what I was talking about. "Gilligan? Gilligan's Island?" I queried. Nope. I turned to the rest of the group and asked, sure that Clare must just be lacking this info through some sort of bizarre blip. Blank looks all around.

My mouth fell open and I spluttered in disbelief. Even my rousing rendition of the iconic theme tune did nothing but tinge their blank looks with bemusement. 

Not as good as my version...

It just blows my mind that such huge cultural references like this are completely lost on a large chunk of the population and that there are equally large gaps in my knowledge from the other view point.

What's the biggest clunker of a cultural reference you've ever dropped on a group?

Word of the Week

Commercialadvert

Diapernappy Commercialadvert

Definition: a television or radio spot meant to entice consumers to spend their money on products or services

Used in a sentence: I love a good commericaladvert that makes me laugh. 

British Drama in The States

I have a confession.

Come closer.

*gulp*  I've never seen Downton Abbey. [cue gasp]

Who doesn't love a period drama?!

With the Downton Abbey craze sweeping the US, I'm embarrassed to admit that I've never watched it.  Tons of my US friends are raving about it on Facebook and it feels wrong that I live in the UK and haven't seen it.  Don't get me wrong.  It sounds really good.  It's right up my alley and people I like and who's taste I respect have said it's awesome.  I just sort of missed it when it started.  I have a hard time figuring out scheduling of British television and just never got on board when it started.  And I refuse to start a series in the middle.  I mean, a sitcom is one thing, but a series drama requires investment and background.  If you miss the beginning, you miss out on all the little nuances and story threads that are hinted at and woven together over time.  So I refuse to watch until I can start from the beginning.  I'll get around to it.

Though, I have missed Downton, I can give you a heads up on another British Drama that is headed to the US via PBS this fall.

Call the Midwife

Call the Midwife aired while I was pregnant, so I was really interested to watch it.  It follows a group of midwives and nuns who are charged with caring for the women in the east end of London during the 1950s. The main character was actually the least compelling figure, in my opinion, but the show is based on her memoirs.  The supporting cast and the look at the public health conditions of the time are really fascinating.  Especially good is comedian Miranda Hart as an awkward midwife named Chummy.  She was nominated for a TV BAFTA (the equivalent of an Emmy) for Supporting Actress and I found her performance really compelling.

This show really gives a great look at how far the practice of childbirth has come and could spark some great discussions.  Issues of abuse, miscarriage, forced adoption, and post-partum depression are all covered in thoughtful and interesting manner.  The relationships between the midwives and their charges makes for a good watch.  If you're into British stuff, baby/childbirth stuff, public health stuff, 1950's stuff, and human drama I say it's certainly worth a watch!

CALL THE MIDWIFE, Sundays, September 30 to November 4, 2012, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET– Based on the best-selling trilogy by the late Jennifer Worth, CALL THE MIDWIFE is a fascinating portrayal of birth, life and death in a world drastically different from ours. This six-part series offers an unconventional twist to Sunday-night British dramas and brings mid-20^th-century London to life, focusing on the joys and hardships of a group of midwives working in London’s East End. 

The Hump

It's that time again...

This year's Eurovision competition will be held in Azerbaijan, as they won last year.

Eldar & Nigar sing Running Scared

The big news is that the UK has pulled out the big guns.  The Hump will be representing us.  Who?

The Hump

Why, Engelbert Humperdinck of course!  Hopes are high and his effort has been getting pretty heavy airtime on the radio.

Love Will Set You Free

And because I can't talk about Englebert without thinking about this bit of funny from the hilarious Eddie Izzard.

What's in a name?

It's a pretty good song (at least as far as Eurovision goes) and the star power doesn't hurt, but I still don't feel like I have an accurate grasp on Eurovision voting...

Do you think the UK stands a chance this year?

Possessive

Whilst watching our favourite soap a few weeks ago, I noticed something...

The Webster Sisters

Sophie and Rosie Webster were having a discussion regarding the state of their parents failing marriage.  I think Sophie was angry about her father breaking up her lesbian wedding at the altar by implying that she didn't want to go through with it just before the vows.  (These British soaps are very high minded!)

Sophie kept referring to her parents as "my mum" and "my dad", even though she was talking to her sister.  It hit my ear strangely.  I noticed this also applied when Sophie was talking to her mom about her dad.  She kept calling him "my dad".  There's also a use of "my sister" when talking to parents, rather than using her name.  Which to me... If I said "Matt" to my parents, they know who he is... he's my brother, their son.  

I can't imagine talking to my brother about our parents and including the "my".  I mean, we have the same parents, so he knows who I mean when I say "mom" or "dad".  I realized that, even when talking to Ross, I don't include the "my".  If I'm calling someone "mom", the "my" is implied in my world.  Does that make sense?  I mean who else would Ross think I was talking about?  

I asked Ross about this and he thought for a second and said he would have included the "my" when talking to his sister about his parents or to one parent about another.  I would never do it in talking to family about family, but if I was talking about family to a friend, I'd be much more likely to use the "my".  

Ross wasn't sure if this was solely a northern thing, or a British thing (but said probably a northern...).  I don't think either way is "right", but it's a weird little cultural difference, isn't it?  I love these tiny differences that hit your ear because they're not quite what your used to.

What do you think?

Do you include the "my" or is it implicit?

Do you use it with some audiences, but not with others?

Bad Luck!

I've talked before about our fondness for game shows.  I've recently noticed something about quiz shows here in England.  Maybe it's just certain shows.  I can say I've noticed it on both Pointless and Eggheads as well as on the morning music quiz "Pop Master" on BBC Radio 2.

When a contestant gets an answer incorrect- even if their answer is the dumbest, most unlikely answer ever- the host will let them know that they are incorrect and then say "Oh... bad luck!"  It always strikes me as funny.  It isn't really bad luck to get the answer wrong.  Wait- that's not true.  Sometimes it is.  Like if the person was guessing between two options and chose the wrong one.

Maybe this is what they mean?

But for the most part "bad luck" just sounds like a strange response to me.  I mean, a quiz show is ostensibly about knowledge.  If you don't have the knowledge required, it isn't bad luck... it's just... bad.  Bad preparation?  Bad knowledge?  Maybe.  Bad answer!  Definitely!

It just strikes me as the host's (perhaps on order from the producer) attempt to coddle the offending player's feelings and ego.  Is this just another symptom of a society overly concerned with people not being made to feel bad about themselves?

I don't think that American quiz show hosts do this, but maybe I just didn't catch it.  Anybody out there know?

Word of the Week

Waistcoatvest

Lliam shows me his Rock Star waistcoatvest

Definition:  a sleeveless item of clothing that buttons up the front, generally worn over a buttoned shirt and under at coat as part of men's formal wear.  may be worn in other manners.

Used in a sentence:  Mr. Schue from Glee likes to rock a waistcoatvest with jeans, a dress shirt, and tie even though it is a tricky look to pull off.

Cheerful Sunday

Ross and I love Strictly Come Dancing.
It is vastly superior to it's American counterpart, Dancing with the Stars.

This season features a contestant who never fails to make me smile.  I think it's impossible to be grumpy whilst watching him dance.

Russell Grant is an astrologer who came to public attention in the 1980s.  He was always larger than life in personality and size.  Before appearing on Strictly, he lost 10 stone (140 pounds!).  Ross says he's always found him really irritating, but can't deny that he's a joy to watch dance.

Check it out for yourself.

He's your Venus!

Good Lord!  Those facial expressions are adorable!  I think mostly, I love how much he's obviously loving it.

Isn't it fun to love doing things!?!

A Casualty of Ameringlish

When I first moved to England, I found that there are a few words that have completely different meanings to what I was used to.  One of the most confusing was the word CASUALTY.

The first time I noticed this confusion was when I heard a news report of some accident or other.  They report went something like:

"An accident in North England has resulted in 8 casualties.  No fatalities have been reported."

I was so confused!  If the first sentence was true, then how could the second also be true?!?
In America, if a news story reports a casualty, that's really bad news.  It means that someone has died.
But then I remembered something.  There's a show here called....

Sorta like ER...

And it's not a show about death (always... obviously sometimes patients die), but rather a show about the Casualty Department at Holby City Hospital (a fictional hospital that is the subject of a different show).  The Casualty Department, also known as A&E (Accident and Emergency) is the equivalent of the ER.  

Here a casualty simply means an injury.  Very confusing for a poor, unsuspecting American!  So if you're ever injured in England and someone asks you if you need to go to Casualty, don't worry... they aren't implying that it's so bad you'll die.

Word of the Week

Pitstone

Dun-na-na-na Dun-na-na-na

Definition:  The hard center bit found in various fruits and olives that contain seeds.

Used in a sentence:  Remember when the gang from 90210 used to hang out at The Peach Pitstone?

Sniff sniff

Ah-Choo!

I don't know if this product exists in America, but I never noticed it before moving here.   They are basically double sized tissues.  I have to say, I'm not a fan.  

I think it's because (gross info time) when I blow my nose, stuff comes out and I want to throw it away.  That feels wasteful because there is so much clean tissue left, but I'm not going to carry around a tissue half filled with snot- cause that's gross.  Duh!  

So, I already wasn't a fan of this product, but then they went and poked the bear that is my crazies* by putting out a new commercial:

Kleenex TV advert

So, the gist of the ad seems to be that they have a new package that will cause the tissues to be annoyingly easy to lose and hard to find.  Who is the ad genius who came up with that?!  Seriously.  Am I the only one that doesn't get this as a concept for an ad campaing.  "Kleenex:  We'll irritate you real good!"  

I swear, every time this ad comes on the TV my blood pressure goes up and I have to stop myself from yelling at the screen.  I have no idea why it gets under my skin so much.  I guess that's just my crazies for you.

What drives you needlessly crazy?

*I am fully aware that Kleenex doesn't know who I am or do anything to intentionally provoke me.  I'm being humorous  not delusional :)

Plump it up

The poster girl for plump (lips, that is)!

I love my lip plumper lip gloss, especially Buxom Lip Polish by Bare Escentuals.  Ross isn't so much a fan.  He doesn't like the way it tingles on his lips after we kiss.  At least the colour looks good on him! :)

But we're not here to talk about the state of my lips.

A phrase that is very common here is England, is (yet again!) one I'd never heard prior to moving here.  I hear it most frequently when watching one of the many quiz shows we enjoy.  On a quiz show, it's used in the context of when a contestant isn't sure of the answer and prefaces their response with 3 words "I'll plump for _______ ". 

I actually misunderstood what it meant until just now when I asked Ross to explain it to me and tell me it's origin.  I thought that it mean the equivalent of "I'll give a guess of _______".  That's how it comes across as it's always when the answer isn't a sure thing.  Ross has just told me that it actually means more like "I'll back/ give my support to/endorse".   It's actually in American dictionaries, but is used in a more political context- like someone backing a certain political candidate or party.  

So there you go... there's a little something you might not have known....

What phrases have you found confusing, or thought you understood only to find out you were wrong?

Old Commercials

Meg's note:  Yesterday was officially the first day since I started this blog that I posted no content.  Sorry.  I was mucho tired and uninspired.  Please forgive me!

The other night, Ross and I were talking (surprise, surprise) and for some reason those coffee commercials with the British couple came up.  I couldn't remember which coffee it was advertising.  I started out thinking of them as the Folger's Couple, but after a little googling I found that it was actually the Taster's Choice Couple.

I asked Ross if they had those commercials over here- sort of a stupid question now that I think about it given that the couple was British.  Whatever.  I'm going to use the fact that they don't have Taster's Choice over here as my defence for that one.  Anyway- Ross responded that, in fact, the Nescafe Gold Couple commercials originated here.   They were later re-made for the US version of the product.

One of the US commericals

A compilation of the British version

So, the commercials appear to have started in the same way in both countries, they did diverge as they went on.  The American version included a vote in the end to decide whether the woman should end up with her ex-husband or with the Taster's Choice Man (aka Anthony Steward Head; aka The Librarian from Buffy).  I remember loving these commercials when I was a teenager, especially Mr. Head's sexy accent (foreshadowing!).  

And now for a few facts and figures via Anthony's website:

a handy chart I made

Interesting, huh?  So this is my question:

Considering that they entirely reshot the series and included different story lines, product names, and even character names- why did they keep the same 2 actors in the leading roles?  I mean, I'm surprised they didn't switch to American actors while they were at it.

Not that I'm complaining!  I mean perhaps the advertisers knew how good the chemistry between the 2 leads and didn't want to mess with a good thing.  It's better judgement than I generally attribute to ad geniuses.

What are your favourite old commericals? 

Did you love these Taster's Choice ads too?

Cheerful Sunday

Watching old episodes of Monk.

He's the guy.

What's my age again?

We watch a few game shows in the Ameringlish Household.
Our favourite is Eggheads.
Lately we've been tuning into Pointless.

The host and sidekick

Pairs of people compete to come up with answers.  The trick is that, like Family Fued (Family Fortunes to the UK readers out there), a random sampling of 100 people have been asked the same question.  The player's aim is to answer the question correctly, but with the answer that the fewest number of that 100 gave.  Does that make sense?  They're looking for a pointless answer.  That is a correct answer that no one else gave.  It's sorta stupid, but kinda fun.  I especially like when they ask stuff that is hard for Brits to answer, but super-easy for any American.  (You'd be surprised how often it happens!)  They compete for money, but seemingly more important is the Pointless Trophy.  I think my brother would rock this game show.  Or at least an American version of this game show.  After all, there are even more cases where the answers are skewed to a British competitor.

But, yet again, this post isn't really about any of the ramble that you just read.
It's about something that I've noticed about British game shows in general.
Namely, that they are obsessed with age.

At the start of every British game show that I've ever watched, when the contestants introduce themselves, you'll hear a variation of the following:

"My name is Sally.  I'm 34 and I'm a receptionist."

Name, Age, and Job description.

The name.  Yeah.  Obviously.  A given.
The job description.  Sure.  I think most US game shows include this info too.
But age?  Every single time.  It strikes me every time.  Especially in the case of women beyond their 20s.

Perhaps because I was raised in the south, but it feels rude and intrusive to know a contestant's exact age.

Have any other expats noticed this?
Am I alone in thinking that it's weird?

(Note:  I am not complaining.  Merely pointing out an interesting difference in cultures.  I like England and I like living here.)*

*I'm thinking of putting this disclaimer on all my future blog posts to avoid people accusing me of being whiney or whatever.

But all of this is not really the point.

The Glee Project

I've been totally sucked in by yet another lame reality show.

I love Glee. And I love projects.

I've always been a fan of Glee (though I've caught a few reruns recently and have been disappointed by how the eps hold up- apart from the musical numbers).  And I certainly love a cheesy competition-style reality show.

So when I saw ads a few weeks back for The Glee Project, I set up a series record.  We're a few weeks in and so far so good.  I've agreed with both eliminations so far and am intrigued to see what happens.  For my money that's a great start.  So far, my favourite contestant is Cameron.  He's a cool/nerdy hybrid guy that's got a great vibe.  

A DFW fella.

What surprises me most about it is that it's airing on Sky.  Glee airs on E4.  When I did a little internet research, I learned that it aired on Oxygen in America.  What's up with that?  

Why is this quality reality show that links to a phenomenally successful TV show being aired on a low-profile non-major network like Oxygen?   Why didn't Fox snap up this show?

Am I missing something?

Freeze frame

This is what a television looks like.

It doesn't matter what channel it's on, but as long at the TV is on, it freezes up at 6:58.
Every evening.  Sometimes it is a short freeze like a little skip in the feed.  Other times it fully freezes and we have to change the channel to reset it.
We're not sure when it started, but probably a few weeks ago.

Ross is usually working while the TV is on some show or other, killing time and waiting for Emmerdale to start.  I'm usually in the kitchen working on dinner.

It's gotten to the point that it serves as a nice little alarm for us.
Ross looks up from his work and says, "It must be 2 minutes to 7."

What is this about?
Does it only happen to us?
Is it a time-sensitive glitch in our cable?
Or is it a sign from Sky (our cable provider) that we watch too much TV?

As a bonus, and to save this being a completely pointless post, I'll now discuss the words "Boob Tube".
In America, it's slang for the TV.
In England, it's what I know as a tube top.   It always strikes my ear as lewd when I heard this kind of shirt called a boob tube, though it's a very apt name.  It is, after all, a tube for your boobs.

I'm Manchester's resident expert on Dallas

Earlier this week, we got an interesting phone message.

But first, a little background...
At the end of last year, Ross and I were selected to take part in a special day of programming that BBC Radio Manchester was doing.  We did a brief "audition" in the Takeover Taxi and were chosen to do an hour of programming for BBC Radio Manchester, along with a bunch of other people that were also picked.  It was super-fun and we had a great time doing it.  The producer was very friendly and seemed to like us.  We did our recording, it aired on January 3rd and that was that.

Our big break

Back to the present...

Ross came into the bedroom as I was getting ready and played a voice mail for me.  He prefaced it only by saying that there was a very strange message for me.  It was a woman calling from BBC Radio Manchester.  She said she'd gotten my information from the producer we worked with previously.  They were planning to do a piece on the remake of Dallas and wanted to interview me about it.  

The Cast

Just as I was about to call her back, the phone rang and I was saved the trouble.  She asked if I was available to talk to Becky Want at 3PM.  Unfortunately, we already had firm plans from 3 to 5PM.  The woman said she'd check to see if they could do something earlier and call me back.  Just as she was about to hang up, I stopped her.  You see, I had some information that I thought was fairly important for her to know before putting a bunch of effort into setting this all up.  

What was this information?  I let her know that I've never seen an episode of Dallas.  You see, when people here find out that I'm from Dallas they get very excited and almost always reference the show, so I was well prepared for her not to expect this.  I explained that it was a bit before my time.  And that they ran reruns of Dallas here much more extensively than they did in the States.  She awkwardly said ok, and that she'd be in touch.  

Though I knew I could still make for an interesting interview despite never having seen the show in question, I wasn't surprised when I got another message from the woman (very nicely) saying that they were unable to do the interview before 3PM and hopefully they'd talk to me sometime soon.  

Ah well... another shot a my 15 minutes gone :)

Have you ever been asked to comment on something because people assumed you'd have a lot of knowledge on a subject, even though you don't know squat about it?

Word of the Week

Seasonseries

The Complete CollectionSeries

Definition:  a set of episodes of a television programs intended to run in a finite period of time, sometimes with a hiatus in the middle, can vary in number of episodes
Used in a sentence:  I really think the second seasonseries of The US version of The Office is when the show took off and came into it's own.

Cultural Smackdown: The Apprentice Edition

This version of the Smackdown will focus on the main difference between the two versions: the host of the respective versions of The Apprentice.

US vs. UK!

So let's break this down:

US Version

The classiest boss in the world

- Hosted by: Donald Trump
- Known as: "The Donald", though generally shown respect by candidates who refer to him as "Mr. Trump"
- Age: 65
- Signature hand gesture when firing:  the cobra (pictured above)
- How he became wealthy: Family money.. He joined his father's already successful real estate company, he took it to heights of success and some shaky depths.
- How he became famous:  He raised his profile due to his outrageous style, outspoken nature, and penchant for trading in wives.
- Politics:  Aye, aye, aye...  He initially toyed with running for President as a 3rd party candidate in 2000.  He's been making noises (and vaguely racist proclamations about our current president) about running as a Republican in the next election.
- Children: 5 by 3 different wives; Donald Jr., Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany & Barron
- Wives: Ivana (1977-1992); Marla Maples (1993-1999); Melania Knauss (2004-present)
- Likes:  gold, golf, calling things "classy", the sound of his own voice, styling his hair in a thoroughly ridiculous manner and refusing to listen to anyone who might suggest that is might look better in another style.
-Estimated to be worth:  $2.7 billion (according to Forbes)

UK Version

The Tell-it-like-it-is Boss

- Hosted by: Alan Sugar

- Known as: "Lord Sugar", though his official title is Baron Sugar, of Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney.  Before he was made a Lord he was known as "Sir Alan" as he was knighted in 2000.  

- Age: 64

- Signature hand gesture when firing:  the point (pictured above)

- How he became wealthy: All on his own, baby.  He grew up poor in the East End of London, the son of a tailor.  He began his entrepreneurial empire by selling electronics out of a van as a market seller.  From there he built an electronics company that he sold in 2007 for £125 million.  

- How he became famous:  He came into the public eye when he bought Tottenham Hotspur.  This raised his profile.  Possibly the fact that his business deals with electronics and media, combined with his self-made status, made him a "celebrity" of sorts.

- Politics:  He's a supporter of the Labour party.  There were reports that he'd been approached to stand as the Labour candidate for Mayor of London, which he has dismissed.  He was given the title of Baron so that he could serve with Gordon Brown's government as "Enterprise Champion", a non-political role.

- Children: 3; Simon, Daniel, Louise

- Wives: Ann (1968-present)

- Likes:  Rolls Royces, footballsoccer, travel, getting in Twitter spats, being shot from angle that doesn't make him look quite so short, talking about his roots

- Estimated to be worth: $1.14 billion

So who wins?
In my opinion, Trump has become too much like a caricature.  He's made the show increasingly entertainment-oriented as it progressed from season to season.  Sugar, on the other hand, has exerted more and more control over the show to demand better candidates and more real business-oriented tasks.  It could just be because Sugar is new to me, and hasn't had time to grow as tiresome as I find The Donald, but for my money- Sugar takes it.

Mr. Trump-  You're fired! (Note:  I was going to take a cute picture of myself doing a signature firing hand motion, but I don't feel very photogenic today... so just picture it for yourself, ok?  Ok.)

What do you think?