And now, something completely different
Borrowed today's title phrase from Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British comedy troupe containing some of the funniest people I've ever seen.
Yes, enough of the gloom-and-doom of current events. Let's talk about something far more enjoyable. Or several more things that fit that description!
I've always liked British things, for some reason, from the time I was a kid and could do a passable British accent (or so I thought, anyway). The Pythons, as noted above, were always a favorite, and they were well liked by my father, too, despite the fact that he didn't like much of anything foreign. Kentucky Educational Television used to show Monty Python on Saturday nights at 11:00, and we were allowed to stay up and watch. I don't know that I always understood the more subtle parts of their humor, but the broad, physical stuff was always a winner with me!
The Anglophile in me always enjoyed music by English performers, too. As a kid I was aware of the Beatles, but since my mother (the family's music lover) was an Elvis fan, there wasn't any room in the family record collection for the Beatles as well. So as a young teen I discovered Elton John and became an instant favorite of mine. And then to see him on television once in a while, in his outrageous costumes, was quite something, too.
As time wore on I came to be a true fan of the Beatles, but not until adulthood, when a friend who WAS such a fan loaned me his collection of half-speed mastered LPs (those are records to those who don't know or remember), and I made recordings of all of them. Wore a couple of them out, and what's left of those tapes reside in my son's garage, since he still has a cassette player. Not to worry, when we converted to CD players in our cars I reacquired most of their catalog in that format.
And I think I have mentioned this here before, but both of our cars are equipped with satellite radio, and since they're both too old to connect to our phones, we keep that service active. I was teetering on cancellation until last spring when SiriusXM introduced the Beatles Channel, which was just what I needed. The Beatles' music, both together and as separate performers, plus other singers' cover versions of classic Beatles songs and shows that delve into their history are among the channel's program offerings. When my wife gets into my car to go somewhere with me, she almost always comments that "is the Beatles channel all you listen to?" I shrug and smile and off we go, but I notice her tapping her hand on her knee all the same!
The greatest surprise for me in this quasi-British invasion is that my wife, as it turns out, also enjoys a lot of things that originate across the pond. For instance, one of her favorite shows that we've discovered on Netflix (and there have not been many) is "The Crown," which traces the history of Queen Elizabeth II from just before her ascension to the throne onward. It's a show that's well done, well acted, and endlessly interesting and enjoyable.
And since we like a lot of cooking shows, it follows that we watch the Great British Baking Show, which is a stately competition of home bakers in a weekly elimination tournament. The grand prize, if you can believe it, is a cake plate. Not $20,000, but a cake plate. And to see the angst these folks go through to produce baked items that we've never heard of is really something.
The show is hosted by two female comedians who would likely fit right into the Python troupe, and the judges are a rather blunt man with a northern English accent in tight jeans named Paul Hollywood (no, I'm not kidding) and an elderly but kindly woman with a lilting voice named Mary Berry (also not kidding). We've gone through two seasons of that, and enjoyed them both.
There's another English cooking show we've watched a few times but I don't think we're quite as taken with that one.
If you're wonder if we have high tea and crumpets while we watch "the telly," rest assured that we still like most 'Murican things, too. But it is kind of fun to travel abroad without leaving one's living room or car!
Yes, enough of the gloom-and-doom of current events. Let's talk about something far more enjoyable. Or several more things that fit that description!
I've always liked British things, for some reason, from the time I was a kid and could do a passable British accent (or so I thought, anyway). The Pythons, as noted above, were always a favorite, and they were well liked by my father, too, despite the fact that he didn't like much of anything foreign. Kentucky Educational Television used to show Monty Python on Saturday nights at 11:00, and we were allowed to stay up and watch. I don't know that I always understood the more subtle parts of their humor, but the broad, physical stuff was always a winner with me!
The Anglophile in me always enjoyed music by English performers, too. As a kid I was aware of the Beatles, but since my mother (the family's music lover) was an Elvis fan, there wasn't any room in the family record collection for the Beatles as well. So as a young teen I discovered Elton John and became an instant favorite of mine. And then to see him on television once in a while, in his outrageous costumes, was quite something, too.
As time wore on I came to be a true fan of the Beatles, but not until adulthood, when a friend who WAS such a fan loaned me his collection of half-speed mastered LPs (those are records to those who don't know or remember), and I made recordings of all of them. Wore a couple of them out, and what's left of those tapes reside in my son's garage, since he still has a cassette player. Not to worry, when we converted to CD players in our cars I reacquired most of their catalog in that format.
And I think I have mentioned this here before, but both of our cars are equipped with satellite radio, and since they're both too old to connect to our phones, we keep that service active. I was teetering on cancellation until last spring when SiriusXM introduced the Beatles Channel, which was just what I needed. The Beatles' music, both together and as separate performers, plus other singers' cover versions of classic Beatles songs and shows that delve into their history are among the channel's program offerings. When my wife gets into my car to go somewhere with me, she almost always comments that "is the Beatles channel all you listen to?" I shrug and smile and off we go, but I notice her tapping her hand on her knee all the same!
The greatest surprise for me in this quasi-British invasion is that my wife, as it turns out, also enjoys a lot of things that originate across the pond. For instance, one of her favorite shows that we've discovered on Netflix (and there have not been many) is "The Crown," which traces the history of Queen Elizabeth II from just before her ascension to the throne onward. It's a show that's well done, well acted, and endlessly interesting and enjoyable.
And since we like a lot of cooking shows, it follows that we watch the Great British Baking Show, which is a stately competition of home bakers in a weekly elimination tournament. The grand prize, if you can believe it, is a cake plate. Not $20,000, but a cake plate. And to see the angst these folks go through to produce baked items that we've never heard of is really something.
The show is hosted by two female comedians who would likely fit right into the Python troupe, and the judges are a rather blunt man with a northern English accent in tight jeans named Paul Hollywood (no, I'm not kidding) and an elderly but kindly woman with a lilting voice named Mary Berry (also not kidding). We've gone through two seasons of that, and enjoyed them both.
There's another English cooking show we've watched a few times but I don't think we're quite as taken with that one.
If you're wonder if we have high tea and crumpets while we watch "the telly," rest assured that we still like most 'Murican things, too. But it is kind of fun to travel abroad without leaving one's living room or car!
Comments
Post a Comment