I am please to present the third (and, for now at least, final) in a series of entirely serious, not-at-all tongue-in-cheek public service announcements, will give you all the facts you need to make your vote for President. This film takes a simple, non-sensationalist look at the ways in which foreign policy decisions affect domestic security.
[NOTE: Due to a sudden surge in visitors, I’ve moved all my public service announcements to a site that can better handle the traffic. You’ll find them here.]
Bush vs. Kerry II: Trust
I’m pleased to announce that, once again, an important television ad for the presidential election is debuting here at Yankee Fog. Like the previous one, this will offer you balanced and impartial advice as you decide between George W. Bush and John Kerry.
[NOTE: Due to a sudden surge in visitors, I’ve moved all my public service announcements to a site that can better handle the traffic. You’ll find them here.]
Democratic Rituals
For me, watching the presidential elections from the vantage point of another country has felt like a certain kind of recurring dream that everybody has had; I know something very important is happening very far away, but I can’t quite perceive it directly, or get close enough to influence it.
Backstage At The Emmies (a special guest report)
My former co-worker Rob Kutner–who just won an Emmy–recently sent out the following backstage report to his family and friends. With his kind permission, I’m reprinting it here.
The Emmys are held every year at the Shrine Auditorium, right in the ultra-glamorous, star-studded region of Los Angeles known as “South Central.” The afternoon of the broadcast (it starts at 5pm, West Coast time), the whole area becomes a sea of limos. Reportedly, the demand is so high for them on this particular day, they have to be brought in from not only the rest of California, but from neighboring states as well. At any rate, the surreal spectacle outside your tinted window is of minority residents in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods watching this army of limos insert some of the nation’s richest people, one by one, into their armed compound in the ‘hood.
Hedgehogs and Other Worthy Causes
I’m riding on the Tube when a woman who looks to be about 20, with her blond hair tied in Heidi ringlets, enters the car and addresses the crowd. “I’m a medical student,” she says, “and I’m collecting for Guy’s and St. Thomas Hospital.” She’s wearing blue hospital scrubs, and holding a large bucket that says “GSTH” on it, with a slot for coins. But other than that, there is no way of verifying that she is who she says she is. She’s just as likely to be raising money for her drug habit or cult leader as for medical research. In fact, given that London underground regulations forbid solicitation on the trains, she is almost certainly a scammer.
An Important Public Service Announcement
Turning for the moment to American politics… I’m really pleased to learn that a major non-partisan group is going to start broadcasting an advertisement that will, at long last, refocus this presidential campaign on the issues that really matter. I’m doubly pleased that Yankee Fog readers will be the very first people to see this ad. If you want some sober and well-thought out advice on choosing between George W. Bush and John F. Kerry next november, just click on one of the links below.
[NOTE: Due to a sudden surge in visitors, I’ve moved all my public service announcements to a site that can better handle the traffic. You’ll find them here.]
Pitch, Pitch, Pitch
About a year ago, Lauren and I went to a cricket match. It was so thrilling that it was another year before we felt able to go to another one.
Many Americans view cricket as only slightly less impenetrable than your average income tax form, and marginally less fun. In fact, the sport couldn’t be simpler. A pitcher is called a “bowler,” and a pitch is called a “pitch.” The field is called the “pitch” (except for the part outside the pitch, which is called the “field”) and when a pitch bounces on the pitch, that bounce is called a “pitch.” To “bowl” is to throw a pitch, to “bowl” is to engage in a period of several bowls, and to “bowl” is to get out. By contrast, a “bowl” is a turn at bat. Now that you have the basic terminology, explaining the game is simplicity itself. The bowlers bowl pitches which pitch on the pitch until the batter is bowled, and when that happens enough, the over is over. (Oh, I forgot to mention: an “over” is six pitches. No, not that kind of pitch. The other kind.)
Extra bonuses
My apologies for missing last week’s entry. To make up for it, I will have one or two Very Special bonus entries later this week.
It Takes A Nation Of Shopkeepers To Hold Us Back
For a country once derided by Napolean as a “nation of shopkeepers,” the English seems to have a hard time with certain basics of the capitalist system. A common complaint among American ex-pats is that customer service here is disastrously bad. That’s not entirely fair. In my experience, the ratio of good to bad service is equal in both countries, and if the clerks and cashiers of England aren’t quite as friendly as those of Los Angeles, they are vastly more polite than those of Boston.
Yet there is a difference.
More food-related photos
Today, I present two more food-related photos. Warning: One of them is mildly not-safe-for work.