Author: christinaosborne

It is a rather peculiar experience to be a British person onlooking the Olympics from elsewhere especially as I still read the British papers on a daily basis.

I detect a dissonance between the two.  I have read in the UK papers about the enthusiasm for the opening ceremony which I have to say has not really been reflected here.  In WA state we pick up both Canadian and US radio and television.  Both/all were excessively polite about the ceremony, far too polite! Quirky and creative being the most often used words as various struggled to describe and understand the whole affair, frankly it wasn’t really suitable for a world wide audience.  It was then dropped like a hot brick.  I suspect that it was all too political and a potential minefield to correspondents, there was actually a comment on Canadian radio to the effect that were there no white people left in London? Incredible considering they are the most anal PC bunch known to mankind!!!

Today there has been much made of empty stadia, angry ticketless Brits, Olympic events not open to the public and a general wonder why Locog cannot get their act together to fill the seats.  Romney was slated here for making rude remarks to the Brits re the readiness of the UK to host the games.and duly slunk off to Israel ASAP. I note a couple of commentators beginning to ask whether he had a point!  I have been captive today for a couple of hours in the kitchen making redcurrant sirop so have been treated to a variety of talk shows and talking heads on my mini kitchen counter TV.

I have to say in mitigation the NBC’s coverage of the games is absolutely DIRE, were you to see it you would actually thank God you had the BBC (What a heresy!!!)  We have watched any clips etc on Canadian TV which have made a far better job of the whole affair.

I would be interested to see what Chris and Low Wattage have thought so far of other denizens reactions Also what Bo and Bearsy make of the coverage and reaction in their antipodes..

What is the purpose of an Olympic opening ceremony?

One is to introduce the competing athletes to the world and the other major purpose is to introduce the host country to all watching.  It is a prime opportunity to showcase the host nation to the world and express how that nation feels about itself and its values.  I personally do not think it can be viewed as ‘just’ an entertainment.

I think last night presented a dilemma and sent a very mixed message which perhaps reflects the utter confusion of modern England.  I say England because I feel there was little more than a passing nod to the fact that there are four composite nations within the British Isles. The show was London/urban centric, reflected in how much time was apportioned to the various scenes.

The initial nostalgic unrealistic pastoral idyll (Spousal unit complained he didn’t see the sheep shagging!) was very quickly passed over in favour of the industrial scene which I thought the best by far of the show.   Perhaps more ‘Lord of the Rings’ than anything else but at least demonstrated that we had some creditable mechanical engineers left if nothing else!  At least the first two section were tenuously relevant to our past.

Continue reading “‘Abide With Me’”

Late last night on my way to bed I routinely check for emails and flick the headlines.

I saw an article, can’t remember which paper, that announced that the asylum seeking had started amongst the ‘athletes’ of the corporatefest.  Amazement was being expressed that this individual had not even waited until after his race! (Apparently the only race that counted was to the benefit office!)

Evidently a middle distance runner (how apt!) from an unnamed East African country had gone from his training camp up North to the police and asked for asylum.  They had called in Border Control who had removed him.  He had not wanted to move into the ‘village’, presumably because of too tight supervision and the anticipation of being herded back onto the bus home?  It was rumoured that another official from the same country intended doing likewise.

Subsequently this morning, all trace of the story has been removed, I cannot find reference to it anywhere.  So there you go folks, another one on the gravy train.  I doubt they had the sense to take him straight to Heathrow! Evidently this is quite usual but they generally have the grace to enter their event first!  I wonder why the story has been censored?

And Janus wonders why we would rather not pay our taxes? Or our plumber’s taxes?

Equally I wonder why this ‘athlete’ actually wants to come to the UKSSR I can’t imagine that anywhere in East Africa has Zil lanes, wall to wall CCTV, child tax spies etc etc.  But then they already have corrupt dictators, nepotism, croneyism and oligarchies there so I expect he will feel quite at home in Merry Olde England.

Perhaps Janus will send him his first month’s cheque!

I am about to move a large amount of money from the UK to the USA, the proceeds of the sale of my house in Wales.

Normally when we send money back and forth in the past we have just moved it from a conventional bank in either country to the other end inside the banking system, however, as you probably all know they give a crap exchange rate and  charge transfer fees, wiping the manager’s butt fees and anything else they can think of at the time fees.  As we were only sending relatively small amounts we always just wore it, cursed, grimaced, moaned and bitched and paid!

However, this is a good six figure sum and we note these FX companies do not appear to charge half as much fees and give a better rate to boot.  As many of you are ex pats does anyone have any comments or recommendations to make on this subject?  Any pitfalls for the unwary?

Comments would be appreciated.

Well then, not content with persecuting the peasants in London, the fascistii of the Olympics are now to persecute the athletes!
Jolly good, let the pain be shared equally, after all, they are the cause of the whole shooting match.
Evidently the Olympic pub in the athletes tower penal accommodation blocks is dry.
Even worse, the only drinks are CocaCola and Powerade, nothing else!  (Can you imagine it?){The horror of it all!!!}
And even worse than that, no food or drink can be bought in from outside into the security area.

So unless the athletes leave the village they cannot get a decent civilised meal or libation. I predict that the pubs of the East End will be doing a roaring trade!

Having viewed the videos, I gather that the accommodation will subsequently be apartments, whom for I wonder, I wasn’t aware that we were importing pygmy asylum seekers in quantity as they are patently unfit for human habitation!

It has now got to be one of my chief morning entertainments, watching the fascist stranglehold noose tighten on any poor benighted hapless creature of the UK that falls under the Olympian ukase. It gives me serious reason to give thanks that I have escaped, whatever goes on here it ain’t half as bad as there.  I wonder if there will be a rise in emigration subsequently, sentient beings considering this to be the last straw?

When is Coe going to be renamed Zeus?  I bet the ancient Athenians are spinning in their graves!

Do lightening bolts come out of his arse yet?

What is it with these people?
When, if ever will they stop?
Why the constant desire to wreck London and ensure it’s reduction to dystopia?
Are ordinary workers never to be allowed to pursue their day to day activities without constant interruption?

It appears that having nigh on wrecked the City for months with those bloody Olympics they now want to hold a road race round the West End.  I do not see any other capital city in the Western Hemisphere committing such commercial suicide.  Bernie Ecclestone, a wretched malignant dwarf if ever there was one, wants a F1 circuit basically round HMQ’s joint.
The money, the tourists, the profit etc etc.

What about the poor bloody residents and workers?
What about the clean air acts?
What about the roads being withdrawn from the paid for network?
What about the lost productivity and profits of ordinary companies?

They have a couple of perfectly good circuits elsewhere, let them use those or build a new one at their own expense somewhere out of the way, Rockall might be eminently suitable!  Why ordinary taxpayers should be constantly disrupted going about their lives in favour of idiots running, jumping and now vrooming is totally beyond me. Don’t these bloody retards have anything more constructive to do?  And if they must perform, would they please go and do it out of sight as consenting adults not in a public place!

Londoners need a revolt to stop all this nonsense.

Beyond rumination, more like regurgitation at such gross exploitation.

I gather that within the whole Olympic venue the only food concession is Mc Donalds.

All soft drinks are purveyed by CocaCola

All alcohol is supplied by Heineken.

Picnics not allowed for ‘security reasons’.  More likely security of corporate pockets!

So, not one British Company, no choice at all and totally unhealthy food to boot.  I just cannot understand why anyone would want to go.  Can you imagine being trapped in there for the day with only burgers and cokes?  Oh yes and only payment by VISA card, I suppose they are forced to take cash?  The whole thing is beyond my understanding that there is no choice. I am rather surprised that the law of the land allows the lack of competition.

I wonder if the`Zil lane occupants are forced to eat burgers?  Not bloody likely!

I do so hope there is a great deal of civil unrest and disruption, there deserves to be.

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The garden is particularly lush this year, we have had a very wet spring interspersed with some really nice warm sunny days.  We have the house on the market 5 acres just being too much now but have worked like dogs to keep the weeds at bay ( the beastly actual dogs only supervise!)  The bastard weeds grow at an alarming rate, actually I’m sure they are triffids, they just described them wrongly in the book!

It has now got to the point that the garden is fairly mature and people, total strangers, actually stop and ask if they may walk round and look as it is fairly unusual for Whatcom County in that it is filled with flowers not public lavatory style landscaping as are most properties.  So we are reasonably and justifiably rather pleased with it.  Not unreasonably it is being sold with the garden being very much one of its selling points.  One would not expect a non gardener to buy this place.

Would one?

Continue reading “Tales of the Holy Goat”

Be of good cheer, misery loves company, most of America is having some pretty foul weather too.  At least ours locally is only rain, which regrettably never seems to stop or hasn’t for about two weeks.  So gardening in abeyance, the greenhouse is up to date, cleaned, furbished and all planted up for the summer.  We have had lots of showings for the house and have had to keep it in an unnatural state of cleanliness.  The dogs have been issues with slippers and spousal unit chained to the vacuum cleaner.  (My tendinitis conveniently precludes me thankfully from operating said creature. I remain queen of the dishwasher and washing machine which only need button pushing!)

So, there is bugger all to do except crafts.

Continue reading “Ruminations on a Rainy Day.”

Oh my God I feel quite ill!

I have just read in the paper that the poor Duchess of Cambridge has committed, at least in my book, a hideous faux pas in fashion.  She has, I hope inadvertently, turned up to the Jubilee pageant dressed in clothing already worn in public by Kim Kardashian and some other ghastly TV tart.

It is all very well being economical and wearing off the peg to private dos but quite another matter turning up to State bashes in the same rag as some cheap whore.  Enough already!  The young lady should be made to accept a stylist/dresser who would keep this kind of thing from happening.  Fancy Alexander McQueen even selling it to her without a warning!!  Talk about commercial suicide.  How on earth could it happen?

Any decent dress shop, let alone pret a porter or designers make it their business to know who exactly buys any dress, they keep exact records with computers nowadays a mere touch of the button even on different continents would have been able to advise them to advise her not to wipe the floor with it!!!!

Please God she retreats to haute couture for important public occasions.  If necessary HMQ should write her a cheque for a decent dress allowance!  After all, no pockets in a shroud.

Apart from that, the BBC seemed to make a total balls up of televising the pageant.  Instead of decent shots of the boats and a few commentators who knew their way around water craft we were treated to the same old, same old inanity from silly females who twittered, flannelled, billed and cooed to various nonentities about absolutely nothing at all of any relevance.  How do these bitches get these jobs?  Not on competency that’s for sure!  CNN were even worse and had the temerity to interrupt the whole proceedings with advertisements rendering the whole thing unwatchable.  So, not a good morning at all!  A splendid occasion wrecked, as usual these days, by the BB bloodyC. (And that bloody dress!)