Hooray for the U.K.!

A few more reasons to love the Brits:

1. Gnarls Barkley. OK they aren’t actually British. But they have been embraced by the Brits, claiming #1 status with their song “Crazy” for TEN WEEKS. Apparently this is unheard of. And I am totally digging everything I hear from them. Besides, one half of Gnarls Barkley, which, by the way, is the greatest band name ever, is DJ Danger Mouse. I love Danger Mouse! He’s the greatest! He’s fantastic! (OK, in case you don’t actually know what I mean, Danger Mouse was a 1980’s cartoon from the UK that got played on that crazy new kids channel, Nickelodeon. It was very silly and kind of not great animation, lots of characters standing still with a background moving around them. But I did so love it).

2. Editors. Another band and one I guess I kind of stumbled across. I found a live recording of them covering the Gorillaz “Feel Good, Inc.” and I fell in love. There is something about the lead singer’s voice that I can’t quite explain. I both love and hate it. But so far, everything I have heard from them has been entertaining.

3. David Tennant. Yep, he is the lovely newest Doctor. But he’s also a lovely actor. I’ve just watched the first half of Secret Smile and dude, he is menacing! But very,very good. It’s not a happy movie but it has a great cast (Kate Ashfield from Shaun of the Dead!) and he is a fine, fine actor. It’s quite freaky to see his sweet boyish face and hear some not so sweet things come out.

4. Tea. OK this is nothing new but I have really been appreciating my tea lately. PG Tips at home and whatever I can get out and about. But I did go to a new tea shop recently and I was terribly intrigued by “Monkey picked Oolong”. The monkeys no longer pick the oolong. That may be the saddest sentence I have ever typed. Sigh. But apparently, at one time, monks taught monkeys to pick tea. Go figure. (and yes, I do know that tea comes from places other than England but they are quite well known for their consumption of teas that come from other places, so stop lecturing me!).

5. Ed vs. Spencer. This is so totally NOT my kind of show but I watched an episode the other night and it kept me laughing and cringing for half and hour. Two friends are pitted against one another in really stupid challenges. Why would I laugh at two guys TRYING to make themselves ill? I don’t know but I did. The best part is poor “Spenny”, who goes about everything very scientifically and methodically. In his attempts to get sick he exposes himself to…well pretty much everything, but his healthy constitution just won’t allow it! Meanwhile, Ed gets drunk and smokes enough to break down his immune system (he also throws himself down the stairs and asks people to give him s.t.d.s. That’s commitment). Honestly, the concept of this show is totally unappealing to me but the guys are so funny I couldn’t help myself. That said, I will say again what I said while watching this show…Boys are stupid. I strongly doubt that you will find two female friends willing to do this crap. I don’t know that I could even watch that!

6. Alan Rickman. Always.