Carry On

Hello! I'm a bit of an Anglophile. I reside in Texas, New Hampshire, and at this particular moment in Berlin.
6 Nov 09
Filed under: television 

This is one of many brilliant, inventive sketches from the brilliant, inventive Armando Iannucci Shows. Iannucci’s the one behind The Thick of It and other quite good things. I also recommend the sketch entitled “Happiness,” which is more characteristic of his exquisite wide-wandering imagination.

“Something people don’t realize about Emma Freud is that she got a big spider tattoo all over her head, you know? And she’s also, emm, got an antler.”

18:38

Words that don't mean at ALL what I thought they meant

  • Venial and venal. Not only did I a. use venal today instead of venial, for which I was called out when my companion looked it up in the dictionary on his iPhone (venal means susceptible to bribery, apparently); b. venial doesn’t even mean what I thought it meant. “Venial” means a sin “easily excused or forgiven; pardonable.” It sounds like it should mean “maliciously evil,” or at the very least “viciously vapid,” to me. The V sound gives it an extra terrifyingness. What is the word I’m thinking of?
  • Nonplussed. I always thought this meant some state in which one was both unimpressed and irked. Unfortunately, no single word quite means this as far as I can suss out. Unfortunately, nonplussed really means “a state of perplexity, confusion, or bewilderment,” which irritates me because we already have words which describe that, namely: perplexity, confusion, and bewilderment.

Have you any of your own word-misconceptions?

15:47
Filed under: anglophilia politics boris johnson awesomeness 

The Guardian: Woman saved from street attack

I love this story so much I doubt its veracity. A woman is threatened by iron bar-wielding 12-year-old girls and is saved by a man who chases them away on a bicycle while yelling, “Oiks!” The woman? Franny Armstrong, the woman behind the 10:10 campaign. The man? Boris fucking Johnson. I know. I know.

On Ms. Armstrong’s twitter feed: “did I ask Boris to join #1010 after he rescued me?? Yes I did and yes he agreed…” These people!

5 Nov 09

I have become quite pale, not having properly been acquainted with the sun for several weeks now, and the effect is unpleasant. My skin has a powdery-white sheen, and my hair appears a positively lurid a shade of yellow against my ashy face. I look as though I’m coming out of convalescence. I simply melt away into white wallpaper.

I’m going to the beach when I get home, winter be damned (the sixties are not too bad, I guess) … who wants to come?

6:37
Filed under: anglophilia politics 

Wikipedia article of the week: Euromyth

In related news, I found this Wikipedia article about the ‘Euromyth,’ which is a false story made up (usually by the Sun/anti-Europe lobbyists) about the regulations passed by the EU. Some of my favorites:

  • Brussels mandates that “barmaids would have to cover up their cleavages”;
  • … that “English fish and chips shops would be forced to use Latin names for their fish”;
  • … and that “truck drivers were going to be forced to stop eating ‘fry-ups’ and be forced to eat Muesli and Croissants by the EU.” (< my favorite)

Honestly, though, some of the real regulations are so deliciously silly that they don’t really need to make these ones up

6:23
Filed under: anglophilia politics 
French Minister Calls British Opposition Party &#8216;Pathetic&#8217; Hahahahaha European politics: 80% of the time deathly dull (as David Mitchell observed), 20% of the time really contentious and hilariously entertaining. I also like David Cameron’s magnificent U-turn on the referendum, in which he explained with delicious sanctimony, “A made-up referendum might make people feel better for five minutes, but my job is to put together a plan that lasts five years.” Oh well, I suppose it’s better he comes clean now, but still amusing that the wording is so strong for such a complete reversal. William Hague, Pierre Lellouche has a message for you: “You want to be marginalized? Well, you go for it. But it’s a waste of time for all of us.” (I think he’s angry.)

French Minister Calls British Opposition Party ‘Pathetic’

Hahahahaha

European politics: 80% of the time deathly dull (as David Mitchell observed), 20% of the time really contentious and hilariously entertaining. I also like David Cameron’s magnificent U-turn on the referendum, in which he explained with delicious sanctimony, “A made-up referendum might make people feel better for five minutes, but my job is to put together a plan that lasts five years.” Oh well, I suppose it’s better he comes clean now, but still amusing that the wording is so strong for such a complete reversal.

William Hague, Pierre Lellouche has a message for you: “You want to be marginalized? Well, you go for it. But it’s a waste of time for all of us.” (I think he’s angry.)

4 Nov 09
Filed under: anglophilia books 
Psmith: I could marry him.

Psmith: I could marry him.

17:21

alexandra-ewing:

stalk:

Woah

It’s The Picture of Keanu Reeves!

By the way, tip of the day: don’t image search “dorian gray”. That shit is siiiiiickk (not in a good way)

3 Nov 09
Filed under: anglophilia books 
i12bent: English-born satirist and humourist, P. G. Wodehouse: Oct. 15, 1881 - 1975 “Every author really wants to have letters printed in the papers. Unable to make the grade, he drops down a rung of the ladder and writes novels.” “I know I was writing stories when I was five. I don’t know what I did before that. Just loafed I suppose.” “I just sit at a typewriter and curse a bit.” Photo: British-born author P.G. Wodehouse sitting in armchair in co. of his 2 dogs, who are looking directly into camera, at home. Remsenburg, NY, US, 1960 - LIFE I&#8217;m going through a few of the Psmith series, now. He really is brilliant fun. I tend to like Psmith even more than Jeeves, as Psmith seems slightly more faceted a character, though they&#8217;re akin in their entertainingly competent handling of touchy affairs. A true delight and (so it seems) a good, equal friend, as well as a master of dazzling, befuddling prose&#8212;I mean Psmith, though perhaps Wodehouse fits the bill here too.

i12bent:

English-born satirist and humourist, P. G. Wodehouse: Oct. 15, 1881 - 1975

“Every author really wants to have letters printed in the papers. Unable to make the grade, he drops down a rung of the ladder and writes novels.”

“I know I was writing stories when I was five. I don’t know what I did before that. Just loafed I suppose.”

“I just sit at a typewriter and curse a bit.”

Photo: British-born author P.G. Wodehouse sitting in armchair in co. of his 2 dogs, who are looking directly into camera, at home. Remsenburg, NY, US, 1960 - LIFE

I’m going through a few of the Psmith series, now. He really is brilliant fun. I tend to like Psmith even more than Jeeves, as Psmith seems slightly more faceted a character, though they’re akin in their entertainingly competent handling of touchy affairs. A true delight and (so it seems) a good, equal friend, as well as a master of dazzling, befuddling prose—I mean Psmith, though perhaps Wodehouse fits the bill here too.

2 Nov 09
soyandreagtz: Giant kites in Sumpango, Guatemala in honor of El Dia de los Muertos I tried to find pan de muerto or those little candy skulls here in Berlin (that is, I dispatched a henchman from my lair to find them) but no luck. Looks like I&#8217;m going to bypass celebrating both Halloween and Día de los Muertos - oh well.

soyandreagtz:

Giant kites in Sumpango, Guatemala in honor of El Dia de los Muertos

I tried to find pan de muerto or those little candy skulls here in Berlin (that is, I dispatched a henchman from my lair to find them) but no luck. Looks like I’m going to bypass celebrating both Halloween and Día de los Muertos - oh well.

Next »   Designed by Sam Paro