The thing that scares me

more than the idea that Bush would try maneuver things such that he retains power after our next election, is the idea that someone above him will inevitably retain power after our next election leaving us with no hope of fixing the mess we've made. I really can't blame anyone for not trusting us at this point.

Coming home

Finally. Fucking finally.

Why 21?

To keep the kids out. I understand it now. I've always wondered why we were so far behind, now I see why we're so far ahead. The brits say it seems so old, I say it seems close to just right. If bars in america were like the clubs here, I probably would've said fuck it on my first night. I can't deal with the god damn kids. Now get off my lawn!

And the announcement is?

Starcraft 2. Interesting. Can't wait to see the videos hit youtube.

French people are annoying

Seriously. Annoying.

Where am I???

Woke up this morning passed out on the couch with no idea how I got here. No visions of sprites or fairies or demons, just the worst hangover I've ever had and a fear that I've somehow slept through an entire day.

Scottish independance

I know this isn't getting much US play, but with Blair stepping down, this is becoming a huge issue here in the UK. Scotland nationalists are pushing against unionalists to have their land become independent. Pretty interesting.

I wanted so much to visit Scotland. The planes and buses/trains just wouldn't line up in a manner I could afford and devote appropriate time to.

Advertisement

Just caught a segment here that's kind of like our Apprentice, only for advertising. The idea here is to sell shoes. Group A sells their shoe by donating 10% to some sort of street group I don't give a shit about. Group B sells their shoe by relating to music, playing music, and making me feel like I'm buying a brand of music rather than a shoe. The decision maker caught every single one of those points. It's not the company paying 10% to "street", it's me, the consumer. I'm not buying a shoe, I'm buying 90% advertising. Where is this in America??? Why aren't these people saying "I don't get this fucking commercial!!! I don't understand what your naked women have to do with selling god damn shoes!??!" I'm not saying Brits have a corner on the market of marketing itself, but why don't we celebrate people who understand that selling something is about making me want to put my cash, my quid, my dollars down on your product over someone else's product? Why aren't we telling our advertisers, "Why aren't you pushing us?", "Why aren't you making us 'want' to buy what you're selling?". Why don't we care about the things we buy? I swear, they are arguing right now about "why didn't you listen to your advertisement?". Why do I care about your advertisement? It's my money, I'm not paying for your advertisement, I'm paying for the end product. I'm paying for what I put on my feet and wear every day and try to feel some pride in as a middle class American (or Brit if that's your thing). I put my money down on what I feel is the right thing for me, as a human being, to put my money down on. Why does music, or societal cultural have to play such a large role in this? I know it playes /a/ role, but why such a large role? Why does giving money back to "the street" have to play into this?

Fuck man, I understand 100% why each group is a fucking loser here. Each god damn group is a loser and all they're doing here is choosing the best of the damn losers. The bottom line is, if I want my shoes to support some fucking lower class group, it has to come via taxes or respecting the fact that these people cannot pay as much as me. If I want to support them, I will pay more so that they can pay less. That's the bottom line. I will support them because I can. I work hard so others don't and I'm better than leaching from others. That's where we end up. If you want to push things as far as they can go, that's where we'll go and under no circumstance will I bend to other ideas. I exist so others can take advantage of my work, so others who feel they deserve some compensation for being born can be given that compensation. That's why I'm here and I understand and accept that role. I'm smart enough to understand that those who can do, do, and those who can't do, support. That's my social responsibility and I'd be an asshole to deny it.

VAT

I like the VAT implementation here. They force you to put the final cost plus VAT on the product. No need to figure anything. If you buy for resale, they take it out and show you the difference so you can refund the tax on final sale. The problem really is that it doesn't scale. If you make more, you should pay more. I don't like paying more, but at a fixed rate those that can't keep up, can't keep up. In the US, because you're taxed on every sale of a good the final cost can rocket out of proportion. Here, the final cost stays closer to the initial cost because the tax is only applied to the producer at the end (note, producer here, not consumer) and is entirely refundable if taxes are applied again later.

Also, the police I'm watching here on the telly are not nearly as imposing as US police. I think if I'da been busted for fondling moddles and swearing at police in the US I'd get my shit kicked in. Not these kids on the telly tho. They just kinda go on.

I'm also a bit interested in the amount of CCTV here. I know something like that wouldn't fly in the US right now (right now meaning maybe later), but I'm not sure why. The goal of CCTV is to protect the public in public areas. The key here is public areas. If you're in a public area, what right to privacy do you have? In the privacy of your own home, absolutely you should be free to do as you please without interrupting the constitutional rights of others without the threat of government interference. What about public rights? I don't like basing things like this on 'what if's', but in terms of basic civil rights, do we have the right to not be watched in public areas? I don't know. I want to say no just because I know I'm going to London and I know that CCTV will keep me 'safe' there. As an American though, I'm torn between my right to not have 'the man' in my face and my right to be safe and protected by my government. What thoughts do we have on this?

Absinthe

Need to get this in while I can still type. I got the 72.5% bottle because the 85% bottle was too small for 35 quid. It's like jager on steroids and with a cool color. If jager isn't your thing, this won't be either. I don't have the fancy cup, spoon, or any sugar cubes so I'm just drinking it straight. Maybe some day in the future I can try it the way the internet says I should. I'll put something up tomorrow if I see spirits and lose my mind and what not.

The British attitude towards tipping

The way the Brits treat tipping is pretty cool. It's not expected at all. In America, when it comes time to tip, I always feel like I'm going through motions that have no meaning. I either tip the requisite amount or someone will spit on my food next time or make me stand waiting for a drink for a while. Here, if you order a drink at the pub you can either not tip or order "one for yourself". In other words, you show the publican some respect and offer to buy them a drink. It turns an utterly mechanical reaction into something thought about and far more personal. Honestly, I haven't had a chance to try it out, I'm still learning so much about the differences but hopefully tomorrow night I'll be able to give it a go.

I'm having some trouble figuring out the food ritual at the pubs here. I know now that you find your table, look over the menu, go to the bar, order your drink and meal and pay immediately. That gets you a spoon with a number on it that I'm not sure what the purpose of is. I guess it's just a way of numbering tables, but I also know that her in America you can order food at the bar and have it brought without a numbered spoon. The host brings the food to you and so far I've just been getting up and leaving my plate when I'm done. I'm not sure if leaving the finished plate is the right procedure, but I haven't heard any complaints so far.

Still learning a lot, lots left to learn. It's not exactly a backwards world but the little things that make it unique are interesting.

-- Cheers

Apparently it's almost midnight at home

And I just woke up and will be getting breakfast in 45 minutes. I also saw an Irish pub last night that apparently serves Guinness Red. I don't know what that is, but I plan to stop in there at some point to try it out.

Couldn't agree more

You know you couldn't either

Here we go

I've got an apartment full of boxes which can mean only one thing, it's signing day. No word yet on when I can get my keys, hopefully tonight but probably tomorrow. Either way, tonight is shopping night. I need a few things to ensure my ability to keep food from spoiling and my clothes from stinking. Once that's all done and I'm officially poor again, I can feel good in going across the ocean to spend what little money I have left on whatever it is that british people spend money on. Hooray or whatever.

And when the dust settles... wait, the people won???

I can't say I agree with the choice, I'd rather have a compliant Digg than no Digg. Other than that, I don't really know what to say.

The day digg broke down

I dunno what to make of the whole ordeal. If people rallied like that for something that really matters... just wow man, just wow.