Friday, April 29, 2011

I Succumbed...


... and I've been up all night watching the Royal Wedding brouhaha.  It's pretty entertaining, actually... all the spiffy, almost comic opera-like uniforms, celebrities in morning dress, and women in silly hats.  What's caught and kept my eye, however, are all the London street views and such, which fire off powerful memories of another time.  I've prolly mentioned this a few times, but The Second Mrs. Pennington and I were living in London when Charles and Diana married.  The pageantry hasn't changed and London looks much the same as it did in the way-back.  As for "other things?"  Well, they've changed considerably.  I have a MUCH better teevee now.

Update, 1300 hrs or so:  So, we went to bed sometime around 0700 hrs this morning and are just now working on our first cup.  I was half-joking about having a better teevee above, but it's true.  I watched the event in HD and everything was simply stunning, especially the interiors of Westminster Abbey.  I'm not sure how much of the vast improvement is in the technology (both transmit AND receive) or in my new-found appreciation of color and detail.  The whole shebang was most impressive, whatever the reason.  I had a state-of-the-art teevee in the way-back... a pretty decent combination PAL/SECAM Sony Trinitron... and the Charles-Diana nuptials weren't nearly as impressive.  Or at least I don't remember them as being so.

Yeah, I watched Chuck and Di on teevee.  With my mother-in-law.  The in-laws were over on their first state visit (they came every year TSMP and I were in Ol' Blighty); Mom and I elected to stay home while TSMP and the FIL got up at oh-dark-thirty and caught the first train out of High Wycombe into London for a 20-second glimpse of Chuck and Di as they trotted past in the carriage.  I think the MIL and I got the best of that deal... we had sandwiches and beer at hand, nice comfy places to sit, facilities for when nature called, and no crushing crowds.  But TSMP and her father had the bragging rights, I suppose.  They were really "there," for what that's worth.

13 comments:

  1. I watched some of if due to my wife wanting to watch it.

    What had me rolling in laughter was the way the American announcers seemed to try to put on British lite accents and airs during their inane chatting. All while they were talking about how "unpretentious" the Royal couple were.

    They put on a nice show, but the military uniforms dripping with medals unearned for the most part is one of the things that makes me think of the ruling elite in our country. Tell me you couldn't imagine Obama parading around like that if he thought he could get away with it. He certainly has the haughtiness about him to think himself king.

    This, more so than when Charles and Diana were married, just helped me to be more grateful than ever that we had that little revolution to rid us of those who think that birth gives the right to rule. Of course the Royals aren't what they used to be, I still feel that Royalty are like celebrities, usually filled with so much nonsense, and yet the MSM gushes over them as if they are something special.

    I have spent time in England, and its a nice country, but I'm glad I am an American.

    Magic wordy thingy is inglemp... think it's trying to demean good ol' England? lol.

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  2. It is history in the making and very interesting. I remember watching when Charles and Di were married and the birth of their sons, but I was not a big "fan." The American announcers gushing over the couple is a bit nauseous.

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  3. I've been reading about it (4:00am EST is just a tad early...). Beautiful. I love it all - such a rich tradition and the Brits do love their monarchy (for the most part).

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  4. I had no intentions of watching until…I got out of the shower and heard screams coming from the telly and thought something horrific was happening. Low and behold it was the new couple in their carriage…and I caught myself standing there in a towel, dripping wet…for several minutes…completely and utterly fascinated…for whatever, unknown, bizarre reason. WTF Tim, I said to myself.

    Love the military aspect of it all…the new bride is gorgeous, hubba, hubba…way to go Billy Boy!

    Love the fact Barry & Michelle Antoinette weren’t invited…those people have class!

    Cheerio to our distant cousins. Now start getting serious about that homegrown jihadi problem that is festering big time!

    (word verification, no lie - eusnob, not kidding)

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  5. If anyone believes Eastern Time is early... well, try Pacific Daylight Time... or not.
    The world was due for a party and who better than the Brits to give us the pageantry?

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  6. Feh.

    It inspires me...to travel to Boston Harbor and throw in another crate.

    Feh.

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  7. ^^^^^ What he said ^^^^^^^^^

    FEH!

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  8. Hey, Morgan, lighten up grumpy, we won that war. Nobody said let's go back to being English subjects.

    T’was just a wedding, nobody died...or is fundamentally transforming America...

    Hell, I’d watch your upcoming nuptials live streaming at the House of E.

    Now, get off my lawn! ;)

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  9. Tell me you couldn't imagine Obama parading around like that if he thought he could get away with it.

    He DOES do that to a certain extent, already. One of my pet peeves about The One is his wearing of the USAF A2 jacket, complete with issue USAF leather nameplate with his name and some sort of other bullshit on it. The standard Air Force One blue jacket worn by ALL his predecessors wasn't good enough, good ol' Barry has to wear a part of the uniform he DID NOT EARN.

    Lou (and others): I watched most of it on mute (with the exception of the ceremony itself) to avoid the inane commentary.

    Kris: You're right about the love of the monarchy.

    Small-Tee: Yup, the Brits do the pageant thing like NO others. I especially liked the fly-bys the RAF put on, including the Battle of Britain flight. That might have been the highlight of the whole thing, for me.

    Skip: It ain't early if ya stay up all night! ;-)

    Morgan: About your comment: Feh.

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  10. Heh. We were commenting together but separate, tim. I would hope both you and I would get invitations to Morgan's wedding, eh?

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  11. "I would hope both you and I would get invitations to Morgan's wedding, eh?"

    I'm thinking we go all "Wedding Crashers"...making up stories of who we're related to...eating crab cakes...getting drunk...screwing the bridemaids...

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  12. LOL! That sounds like the BEST o' times!

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