Bloody Brilliant!

Step away from the Chagall

The scene:  Tate Modern on the Southbank on a rainy day

The question:  Why do parents feel compelled to come to a museum with little kids in tow?  Really - why?

I was trying my hardest to enjoy a day of culture at the Tate Modern, one of the coolest museums in London, when all around me were prams pushed by paents, and little kids running amok.  Instead of letting my rage get the better of me, I indulged in a thought exercise to try to figure this vexing problem out. 

Potential answer #1:  Kids like art, and we want to make sure little Buffy gets her intellectual curiousity stoked at an early age. 

Why this is utterly ridiculous:  Seriously?  The kid in the pram doesn't know anything other than when it is going to cry again, and the kid running around like a nutter isn't getting anything stoked but his need for speed.  Try harder.

Potential answer #2:  Desperate parents want to get out of the house and be around civilized people at least once a day.

Why this is utterly ridiculous:  Surely there are other places to go, like a coffee shop or a park or even a Chuck E Cheese or something, where you can get some fresh air without worrying that the little ones are going to put their adorable little fists through a Mondrian?  

Potential answer #3:  It was raining, I grabbed the kids and ran for the nearest free shelter I could find.

Why this is utterly ridiculous:  Actually, this one isn't so ridiculous.  I can buy this - it sounds reasonable enough - but now that you are dry, get your pram, call a taxi, and leave me in cultural peace.

 

Santa Loves the BBC (And So Do I...)

I love British TV, I really do.  It's something I truly miss when I am home in America.  I remember watching BBC America and becoming acquanited with the particular sensibility known as the British sense of humour.

So Christmas is definitely coming early on Bloody Brilliant! with our contest sponsored by BBC America. You will find a whole slew of great Christmas presents on BBC America's online shop, and we are giving away a selection of them (one gift per person, so choose which one you'd like to win).  So what do you have to do is get the word out.  Here's how it works:

- Share this post on twitter, facebook, any social network you want and name the prize you are after.

- Enter by midnight EST on December 15, and we'll draw winners and send you your winning prize!  All in time for the big day...

Here's what you can win:

• Gavin & Stacey Season 3 and Christmas Special - $ 23.98 value

• Doctor Who TARDIS Mini-Set - $ 29.99 value

• A Walk In London Children's book - $ 12.98 value    

• Last of the Summer Wine Holiday Specials 1986 - 1989 - $ 27.98 value

PLUS - it’s back! The annual BBC America Shop Sweepstakes gives you a chance to win two $500 Gift Cards for you and a friend.  Enter here and Merry Early Christmas...

 

Death of a (Questionable) Culture

When I go back home to America for a visit, there are two things I do the minute I get off the plane.  One is buy my fill of crap, useless gossip magazines, and the second is stock up on all Reese's peanut butter candy bar products that are new on the market and aren't available here in the UK.

This time, something was different.  As I cracked open the latest issue of US/People/InTouch/OK!/etc. etc., I saw picture after picture of D-list celebrity doing stupid things.  So far, so nothing new.  The difference is that I had absolutely no idea who these people were.  I'm pretty good on my D-list celebrity knowledge (we all have useless skills, don't we?), but I fear I have now lost touch with US pop culture. 

Charlotte Ross (below)?  Alexa Vega? Emanuelle Chriqui? Gillian Jacobs?  Sara Ramirez?

Shenae Grimes (below)?  Rashida Jones? Jessica Lowndes? Jesse Tyler Ferguson? Kerry Washington?

Page after page of even more useless pix, because what good is seeing how horrible they look if you don't even know who they are? It's only taken 5 years, but there is now a whole culture of crap celebrity in the US that I know nothing about. Pardon me while I mourn a little piece of my life that has died. (Melodramatic? Hardly).

Thank God my peanut butter products are still safe...

But no pressure...

I hardly consider myself sentimental, but I dare you to watch this video without getting tears in your eyes. This video has gotten a ton of press in the UK, and it is a really sweet story.  I love when people do really creative things, and this certainly counts.  

 

There is a comment on YouTube underneath this video that does sum it up for me, however: an expression of total disbelief that this many people could have all found a seat. Now that, my friends, is a true commuting miracle.

Starry Halloween

I love these pix - courtesy of Life Magazine's awesome online gallery.  I thought I'd share in honor of Halloween, the holiday I spend with the lights off so I don't have to deal with kids ringing my doorbell. And stealing my candy.  

For the record, Heidi Klum is really totally nuts.