Bloody Brilliant!

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...

 

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.

London's Lost It

I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who lives in a nice part of London, and she told me with horror that there has been looting on her street.  For the past three nights, London has been in a bizarre state of rioting.  Bizarre because it doesn't stand for anything but people breaking into department and electrical stores, stealing loads of stuff that doesn't belong to them, just to prove they can. 

Yeah, because that's what makes you macho - breaking a window and stealing stolen goods.  This isn't about race, it isn't about injustice, or even animal rights (hey, I'd participate in that riot myself).  That's what makes it so utterly stupid - it's just about roaming gangs of losers, using Twitter to add a modern twist to an age-old act of bullying.  And these idiots think they aren't going to get caught, after posting pictures of themselves posing with their stolen goods.  Who are these people?  It'd be funny if it wasn't so surreally stupid.

And scary.

Whoop it up for Kate and Wills

It's funny how the energy of a place changes and you can literally feel things 'in the air'. This week London has been invaded by more tourists than I've ever seen - which is saying something as I live in the West End, also known as tourist central. The funny thing I've noticed is the totally divided opinion among people who live here about the Royal Wedding. Most of the Brits I know could not care any less about it - in fact, they are all leaving town.

So much for national pride.

While I absolutely hate crowds of any kind (humanity at it's worst is any gathering of more than two people, i say) I admit to looking forward to hanging out in Trafalgar Square tomorrow morning to soak up the atmosphere. I have even imported a fellow American to join me for the festivities.

Make no mistake, I think people who camp out and endure all manner of discomfort in an attempt to get close to 'the happy couple' are bonkers. Armed with a flask of Bloody Marys (to ward off the chill, that's all), my friend and I will see what we find in the crowd. And as for Kate and William - I wish them all the luck in the world.

Really.

Front Row at the BAFTAs

England's Academy Awards, the BAFTAs, are on tonight.  They are taking place at the Royal Opera House, literally right around the corner from our flat.  But of course I'm watching it on TV....

And so begin my random and utterly baseless observations:

• I love Helena Bonham Carter.  Who cares if she looks like she got dressed in a blender, that girl's got character!
• Jonathan Ross just looks bad.  What is he doing??  Besides eating?
• Tom Ford is simply exquisite.  End of.
• Paul McCartney's wig is frightening. 
• I really hope Inception wins something tonight, it was such a fantastically original film.
• Jessie Eisenberg looks so short next to some amazonian girl whom I don't recognize.  He's probably 6'4".
• Love James McEvoy's cute Scottish accent.  Love it, much to my English husband's chagrin.
• Helena Bonham Carter is incredible!  Her knickers are hitched up and she pulls them out of her ass on live TV.  LOVE HER!!
• Wow, the guy who wrote The King's Speech had his own stammer growing up.  And now he's collecting an award on stage.  What's my excuse?  Sheer laziness.
• Geoffrey Rush is simply incredible.  He seems to pop up, do something amazing and then disappear again.  Glad he won and we got to see him again for a little while!
• Rosamund Pike, totally gorgeous, ad-libbing it like crazy. And not doing a very good job of it. (like I'd do any better, of course).
• Jessica Alba looks terrific, but boy does she seem like a total flake.  But a flake who can pull off a gorgeous blue dress, that is.
• JK Rowling should really splash out on a bra. They are desperate to get loose.  She should also stump up for a comb.  Other than that, she's fab.
• Neve Campbell - what the hell happened to her?  She looks utterly bizarre, like she just got kicked out of rehab or something. She has absolutely zero enthusiasm for anything.
• Haven't seen The Social Network yet.  Does that make me a TOTAL loser or just sort of one?
• Noomi Rapace is incredible.  I love her, and no one will be as good a Lisbeth as her.

That's all I've got in me, I'm bushed and I'm going to bed.  Back to the movies for yet another year.

A Quick Browse Through Life

I subscribe to Life.com's weekly photo gallery, which just recently featured a great collection of photos of King George VI that seem all the more poignant after having seen The King's Speech (see previous post):

Beautiful Stampede

It's so hard for me to get out of bed in the morning and go for a (short!) run, but I was always motivated to go and see the elephants.  For the past few months, the elephant parade has been in London, with 258 of the beauties dotting the entire city.  The elephants in question are life-size models of baby Indian elephants, individually painted and styled by local artists.  They are stunning.

This weekend they were all moved to a central location, where they are going to be auctioned, with the proceeds going to help the Asian Elephants who are on the brink of extinction.  It is such an incredibly worthy cause.  I only wish I could afford the thousands of pounds that it would cost to buy one of these, although who knows where I'd put it... our London flat doesn't exactly have the spacious back yard to support such a sculpture.  

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Once they are auctioned off this week, they are gone for good and I'm very sorry to see them go.  Now I will never get out of bed.

PS The viewing area was so crammed with people, I couldn't take pictures of the elephants without some idiot or three crammed into the shot.  My dirty looks weren't enough to get them to move, so as a result they are immortalized online.  If you see yourself, YOU SHOULD HAVE MOVED!

It Takes All Kinds

London is going crazy today for two reasons:

1. The soccer (football) team made
It through to the quarterfinals of the World Cup; and

2. It is the first beautiful sunny summer day of the year (and yes, it is the end of June).

So look who we meet in a pub around the corner, watching the game: two Genuine English Knights!!

I am just so excited that the US made it through to the next round too. Makes for some "interesting" conversations round the Hase household.

Champers on call

Imagine how much more fun life would be if you could always have a Champagne Button within reach?  One of my favorite restaurants in London is Bob Bob Ricard - awesome steaks, killer souffles, and champagne on call from your very seat.  Yes, it's gimmicky, but this is one gimmick I am NOT ashamed to fall for.  Over and over.  And over.

Catch a Kip, Gordo

At last, it's over (or has it just begun??).  Gordon Brown has ridden off into the sunset, this country finally has a new government, and there is nothing to watch on TV but pundits enjoying the sound of their own voices.  I really hope that man takes a break - he looks so very beleaguered, so tired... and I don't blame him.  He should look forward to a future where he doesn't get totally beaten up every day.

Now that privilege belongs to David Cameron!