Tuesday 31 July 2012

Weekend for two in Cockermouth


This is what the sun looked like at about 6.30 last night - it's not very often you can stare straight at it without walking into a lamp-post two seconds later.

We finally got around to watching the Olympic ceremony last night, and I thought it was great.  Even though I had the Industrial Revolution rammed down my throat at school to the exclusion of every other major event in British history, I thought that was the best bit, what with the chimneys, the steel workers and Kenneth Branagh hamming it up whilst striding about as if he built it all singly-handedly.  If there's one thing that the man can do really well, it's HAM, as he proved in his first major role as Dracula, and subsequently as himself in 'Harry Potter'.


The whole thing seemed to piss the Americans off so much, that NBC only showed about 20 minutes of it, and other people said that it was the 'biggest in-joke' of all history.  Well, tough.  Americans are just as good at pissing off everyone else as the British, as they have just demonstrated by implying that the 16 year-old Chinese swimmer must be on dope to have beaten their man in the same event, breaking all previous world records.  If only there was an Olympic event which involved pissing people off - the UK and the US would get more golds than anyone, including the Chinese.

I liked the Victorian cricket match going on during the opening sequence.  That was probably when NBC decided to switch off.  I can sort of understand it - even as a Brit, I find the way that our nation relishes the fact that cricket has such obscure, arcane and nonsensical rules and terms that you have to have been brought up with it as a native  - whether it is in England, Australia, Jamaica, India or Pakistan - to stand any chance of understanding it, extremely irritating as well.  Still, any excuse to rile people is fine in the long run.

I even got around to watching some of the beach volleyball on a friend's wide-screen, HD T.V. on Sunday too.  Sadly, Brazil were not playing.  I thought the Benny Hill music between bouts is a nice touch and rather appropriate, given the visuals.

Amazingly, Benny Hill was (and probably still is) about 100 times more popular in Texas than he ever was here in his home country. As 'slapstick with tits', he is also popular in just about every other country which does not have English as a language as well - a bit like beach volleyball.

I don't know if all the 'Carry On' films ever made it outside of the UK - perhaps some of you can tell me?  I used to like them when I was a kid, but not so much now, for some reason...

A few years ago, I entered a competition via text-message, which involved sending the text, "Ooh Missus!" to a certain number.  The first prize was a camping holiday for two in Cockermouth (a town in the Lake District...).

I forgot about it, but about 3 weeks later, my phone rang and a nice young lady told me I had won a prize.  My heart sank, but it turned out to be the entire box-set of Carry On DVDs.  Phew.

I watched one, then gave the rest to a charity shop.



21 comments:

  1. With the US it all started with Twit Marsh (I mean Mitt Romney) waffling on about us not being ready. Now Twitter conspired with NBC and cut a British journalists account all because he expressed the same opinion of NBC's coverage as you have just done.

    So, how soon before your loyal readership is unable to find your blog?

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    1. I must be monitored (if at all) by Google UK. Some of the things I have said about Republicans would have got me struck off by now, if not. Or maybe you were talking about the false promise I gave yesterday about taking a rest?

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  2. Canadians haven;t a clue about Carry On films.

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    1. Another reason to admire Canadians.

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    2. (John - note that I didn't comment on Raz's use of the semi-colon instead of the intended apostrophe)

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  3. There's nothing complicated about Cricket. It gives you 5 days of uninterrupted siesta time.

    The idiot Jacques Chirac was to blame for these 'Games'. If he'd kept his silly mouth shut about English and Finnish cuisine, they would have taken place in Paris.

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    1. Is that why all the announcements are said in French before English?

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  4. So pleased that you enjoyed the Opening Ceremony Tom .......and, what did you think of the Cauldron ? I think that it's the best one EVER ! The bloke who designed it , Thomas Heatherwick, reckoned that they had always been just big bowls on sticks and were just getting bigger and bigger so he wanted to do something different.
    French was the language originally used in the Olympic Charter when Baron Pierre de Coubertin launched the modern Olympic movement in the late 19 century.
    ....... and, maybe , the weekend for two in Cockermouth ( oooh err Missus !!) would have been the better bet.

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    1. Yes - the cauldron was great - a brilliant idea. Oh, I see about the French, now. I wonder why they chose that place... actually, no I don't.

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  5. I still haven't seen the opening ceremony, and might go looking on the Net for it. I can't always stream iPlayer stuff, some twaddle about not licensed. sigh. I also heard that NBC did a lousy job presenting the opening ceremonies.

    I don't think the Carry On films arrived here in the US, either. And as for pissing others off, yes Americans seem to do that in spades. Even to other Americans.

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    1. I don't think even europeans can get iPayer - sorry, try You Tube?

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  6. I loved the opening Ceremony apart from Paul McCartney who I think should retire gracefully.
    As for a camping weekend anywhere - my worst nightmare.

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  7. I thought it was the best ever -- so there, NBC. Those Olympic rings were also very impressive. Sometimes it eally is embarrassing to be an American. I will be so glad to be British, too. :-) As for that Republican Oaf ... what can one say and still be polite?

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    1. Don't worry, Broad, we have a Conservative oaf here who said that the ceremony was more 'left-wing' than the Beijing one, but he was sacked for wearing a Nazi uniform to a house-party recently, so there too. Sometimes it's just as bad to be British!

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  8. We used to watch Benny Hill, long time ago, on PBS's BritCom's. No Carry On, though.

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    1. Oh - then it seems as though they never made it out of this island. Just as well...

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    2. Oh yes they did.
      Talk about cultural imperialism!

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    3. I don't know about 'cultural'...

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  9. I loved the opening ceremony. Didn't expect to but there came a point when you just had to go with the whole glorious wave of it. And agree with Weaver about Paul McCartney. Time to stop.

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    1. Somebody said they caught a glimpse of Sir Paul with his head in his hands at the end of the show. Emotion or despair?

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