September 28 2009

Hello all…can you believe it…I know I say it a lot but I can’t believe it’s the end of September already & in a month’s time we will have been here, Stateside a WHOLE YEAR! So what’s been happening? Well G is actually in Amsterdam for a meeting as I type & I’ve just heard from him…he’s very very busy, busy out drinking beer & eating steak! Honestly sometimes I despair…it’s not as if I’m sat around here watching TV with my feet up or sat on the deck in the sunshine…well actually sometimes it is! I hear that you are all getting an Indian Summer, right now, right this minute…hope it’s still there by the time you read this!

We’ve recently been downtown to the ‘Fabulous Fox’ theatre…they actually call it that & I just thought they were being a bit pretentious but once we got inside we could see why they call it that, it REALLY is FABULOUS… the foyer was wow with amazing fixtures & ceilings etc all art deco style(e) & totally ‘fabulous darhhhhling’! It’s unusual to see old buildings here & I suppose in the UK we get a bit blasé about old & historical stuff…but being here surrounded by pretty much everything new-ish (in comparison…the Americans don’t really have history like we do, do they, I mean come on!) you forget how nice some of that ‘old stuff’ really is…anyway I digress…we went to see Mary Poppins & it was a great show but theatre is sometimes wasted on kids isn’t it…they tend to take it pretty much all for granted the fact that it’s a play & the Nanny is floating about above the audience so it was left to G & I to watch opened mouthed in amazement & clap excitedly while they sat watching calmly! We of course listened carefully to the British accents in case any of the actors were thinking they could let it slip a little … who’s gonna notice in an audience of yanks eh?! (meant in the fondest possible way!) I must admit I was surprised, all accents were pretty good…there was just one bit, for those of you who know the Mary Poppins story, the bit with the old down & out lady who sells the bird food for ‘Tuppence, tuppence, tuppennnnnccceee a bag’ well she couldn’t say tuppence right & you have to say it A LOT of times in that song, it grated on me I don’t know why & I was sat there listening getting more & more irate…again, don’t know why, it’s not like me (stop sniggering back there!) but I couldn’t take the ‘tuppence’ (I’m singing the song in my head as I type!!!) it was just W-R-O-N-G! The song finished & the show continued without further ado until later on, you know how they do in theatre shows sometimes, they sing the song again…maybe a slightly shorter or slower version (why do they do that?) & guess which song…yep…TUPPENCE A BLOODY BAG… I thought I was going to have to stuff my hand in my mouth to stop myself from shouting out…ENOUGH ALREADY! MAKE IT FIVEPENCE SOMEONE, A SHILLING? A FARTHING? ANYTHING BUT TUPPENCE, BOOOOOOOOOOOO GET HER OFF THE STAGE!!! As I said don’t know why I felt so strongly about it, I just did!

We’ve also been to an outdoor concert locally that was lots of fun…you turn up with your chairs (bit like July 4^th) & your cooler (cool box to translate!) if you wish…but you get given a free hot dog, soda (can of pop!) chips (crisps!) ice cream & kettle corn (sweet popcorn, if its savoury they just call it popcorn!) & did I say it’s all free? Oh I’m repeating myself aren’t I?! But how cool is that…they ask you along, ply you with food & drink, then make you sit & listen to the free music show! Love it! The night in question was a Beatles tribute band… they came on all dressed up & ‘in character’ & when they spoke G & I just looked at one another & couldn’t help grinning…they were the funniest liverpudlian (is that actually a word?!) accents ever…we found out later that it was probably because they all actually came from Chicago but it was a great night & the girls first ‘gig’…they loved it too, they ate lots of hot dogs & kettle corn, Nyah amused herself with her posse of chums & Harley & her friend were much more sophisticated & queued sedately at the end with napkins (serviettes to you & I!) to get ‘John Lennons’ autograph!

Something strange has been going on here in the shops & also outside people’s houses…there is a distinct ‘orange’ feel about everything & I mean everything! OMG all things Halloween/Fall (autumn they mean, what’s all this Fall nonsense!) come out to play with a vengeance at the end of Summer i.e Labour Day which is at the beginning of September which means that even though it could still be 80 degrees outside & in no way looks like it’s the end of Summer it is & you have to put all things summery away & bring out everything & anything orange/Halloween inspired/vaguely leaf patterned or pumpkin shaped. One of our neighbours has taken down his ‘Stars & Stripes & replaced it with a Halloween design flag! When you are in the UK you know that Halloween is a big thing over here but you really have no idea just how big… for example all your normal food you buy gets replaced with an ‘orange/Halloween’ version for the duration, so you don’t have cornflakes for breakfast between end of August & end of October you get a bright orange box with something called ‘Hallow-flakes’ instead…jest I not, the store resembles the orange crowd when Holland play in the world cup! Now don’t get me wrong it’s not that I dislike it exactly & I like Autumn as much as the next person, when it follows a long hot Summer...it’s just that it’s a little too much…we have neighbours with pumpkins on their doorsteps already & it’s not even October yet!!! Enough already!?

This month I’m loving… Faux British accents!

This month I’m not loving… the colour orange!