Anglophile in action

Sunday afternoon I was a good girl - I went to the Rec Center to put in my time on the elliptical. Thanks to my Mum, I have an Ipod which keeps me fairly occupied during those tedious 30 minutes. Since this is a university rec center, the tvs do not normally have fare which I deem worthy of my notice (and that does include the news channels).

Yet, this past Sunday, the Concert for Diana was on the telly. I couldn't take my eyes off it. Diana was a few years older than I, and we had similar tastes in music. And I have always loved many of the Brit singers - you can get a glimpse of the wonderful Lily Allen at an earlier post. And can I say that Take That has aged quite well in the 10 years I have not seen them? And did you know Duran Duran's Rio was written for me?

I think what was a little scary was that I knew who all the Brits were who seemed obscure to most the American audience. I also understood the entirety of Ricky Gervais' routine (and laughed hysterically).

The Princes did a great job. They raised a lot of money for a number of good causes, and I know their mum would be quite proud.

And did I mention I ended up spending an hour on the elliptical?

Wedding in Bath

I have many vivid memories of my Mum telling my little brother and me not to provide public entertainment when we were growing up. Of course, my Dad is the best at this particular pasttime :)

I had some wonderful public entertainment while in Bath. It was a beautiful Saturday, and in the park beside the river Avon there was a wedding party and their guests assembled. A large number of us were observing while they spent a fair amount of time trying to take pictures. I was particularly fascinated by the bride's attendants' attire. Olive green corset tops with white polyester, low ride, stretch pants. If one were skinny enough to pull off wearing the pants, then the upper regions were a little too sparse for the corset top. And of course if they filled out the top nicely, the pants were not the most flattering. Yet, I found the most interesting part of the ensemble was the baby blue caps perched jauntily on the side of their heads.

I sure hope this was not an indication of the usual bridal party attire in Britain. But I did appreciate the free public entertainment.

Good Sport

When one travels to a foreign land, it's not easy to find a present for a 13 year old boy. My Mum and I looked for several days before I finally settled on this tshirt. I knew it was a gamble - but thank goodness he liked it. I think he has watched enough Harry Potter to think that "Mum" is a pretty fun and British thing to say.

Bath billboard

Mum and I couldn't help but notice thuis board in Bath, England. Not much else to say, huh?

We're back!

Well, Mom and I are back from our 5 day adventure in England. We had 3 nights in London and 2 nights in Bath. I'll have lots to share in the coming days. Since I had never been to that part of the world (and have been dying to go since I was about 12 years old), I had so much I wanted to see and do. And Mom graciously let me drag her all over the place to do and see those things. We didn't slow down - we just keep going and going, seeing it all.

Mom is in great shape, especially for someone her age. She is a real trooper. But when she did finally get an opportunity to collapse on the bed, I could not help but record it for the world to see.