http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4264683.stm The Duke of Wellington’s statue on Queen Street has long attracted the attention of late night revellers clambering up to adorn him with a hat. However, the continuing prank has resulted in damage being done to one of Scotland’s oldest bronze monuments. Wellington had no connection to Glasgow or Scots, outside of “leading” them […]
Category Archives: UK
BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Glasgow, Lanarkshire and West | Drivers taught Glasgow patter
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8010036.stm I spent a few months in Glasgow in 2007, and was surprised to note how many Eastern Europeans had moved there to work. Most didn’t speak much English, though I suppose it could be argued that the Glaswegians don’t, either. One bus driver has taken it upon himself to teach foreign colleagues the basics […]
(Untitled)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY “The man and the hour had met.” In this case, though, it was the woman and the song: A Scottish spinster – who looks not unlike my grandmother and comports herself like a Glasgow keelie – sashayed onstage at Britain’s Got Talent, and proved that it certainly did. I’ve watched this five times and […]
(Untitled)
http://www.britsusa.com/about_guide.php American-to-Brit dictionary. I don’t think half of these are correct, or at least in current use, but I’m willing to thumb up on the sheer cheek of translating speed bump as sleeping policeman.
BBC NEWS | UK | Northern Ireland | Woman called Nutt over-run by squirrels
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7963370.stm Couple of comments on this “news” item: – Squirrels are a pain in the neck. Feeding them doesn’t make them tame, it emboldens them. My family learned this the summer our cute little prot
starlings on Otmoor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH-groCeKbE Nature’s glory, ornithological miracles, stunning sights, etc. Yes, yes, whatever. Starlings are one of the few things that can subjugate my Dr. Jekyll-like environmentalist leanings and bring forth a Mr. Hyde-ian rage. Trap ’em and kill ’em all I say! Tear up their nests! Mineralise the eggs! ‘Cause once the fancy aerobatics are over, […]
BBC News – E-mail error ends up on road sign
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7702913.stm When officials asked for the Welsh translation of a road sign, they thought the reply was what they needed. Unfortunately, the e-mail response to Swansea council said in Welsh: “I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated”. So that was what went up under the English version […]
BBC NEWS | Europe | Magazine retouches Sarkozy photo
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/6959180.stm It’s disturbing that the media compulsion to digitally slim down celebrities has now spread to politicians. It’s nowhere near as disturbing, though, as the sight of Nicolas Sarkozy in his Y-fronts. *shudder*
BBC NEWS | Americas | Chavez seeks end to term limits
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6932605.stm Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has confirmed that he will try to change the law to allow him to remain in power indefinitely. Surprise, surprise, Chavez takes another step to becoming “the people’s dictator”. How soon before his superficial good works and trickle-down rhetoric dry up, and Venezuelans find themselves just as oppressed and silenced […]
BBC NEWS | UK | England | Vicar tells children Santa is dead
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2562109.stm An old story, but a good one, via PC-Plod: Mr Rayfield said Santa Claus defies science It is the news no child wants to hear – and certainly not from the mouth of a vicar. Youngsters at a Christmas carol service were devastated when the Reverend Lee Rayfield told them Santa Claus was dead. […]