1966.

I’m sure many of you saw the title of this post and expected some brilliant thoughts on the anniversary of England’s last World Cup victory. Ok, maybe just Max thought it. Ok, probably no one. But, this special mid-week post is in fact a shout out to a much more important event in world history.

For all of you out there who may or may not be taking the first steps over the hill in say, oh, I don't know, the next day or so, this goes out to you…

As many of you know, I turned down the chance to collaborate with Eminem on his next album for the opportunity to come to work in the UK.

(a brief aside, in case you didn't know, he's the inspiration for my photo finger point)

Ok, back to the matter at hand. I admit, I was at first very torn, but when Marshall sat me down and said... “Katie, you have one shot, one opportunity, to get my face on a collector plate, you can’t let it slip. If Cliff or Freddie call me up one more time to brag about their collections, I think I’m going to lose it…the crap I’m getting in 8 Mile right now, it’s unbearable...” it was an easy decision.

So, here I am, an expat with a cause. As you may have imagined, m-dubs and I have remained quite close, and he’s asked that I share a few words with you on this momentous occasion…

Yo, His hair is greying, knees shot, bones decaying
They’re aching ‘fore it’s raining, always proclaiming
He’s young, but on the surface he looks old and ready
To break down, and he keeps on forgetting
What he wrote down, the hearing aid grows so loud
He tries to fight, but he’s gonna lose this bout
He’s 40, how, everybody’s aging now
The clock’s run out, times up over, bloah!

Cam, I think you can take it from here...

The mustache lives.

First and foremost, two claps for hws on their win over penn this weekend. All seven… Could someone please tell me again what is the color of mold on cheese? yuck fale
And a special shout out to hooker... the youtube posting of the week is dedicated to you my friend…enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzFYsZRpHEU


In other news…

Spinach… who knew?? From a source who will remain unnamed…
“Did you hear about spinach?”
“No, what happened?”
“There was an e.coli outbreak in spinach and now it’s banned in the U.S.”
“Really, that’s kinda weird. I hadn’t heard about that.”
“Well, only one or two people have died.”


“I was so dizzy from the beer…” It’s happened to the best of us mate.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2006-09-20-panda_x.htm


In response to several comments today on this weekend’s Ryder Cup results, I’d just like to say, Europe, if we didn’t let you win some things every now and again, you wouldn’t come back to play, now would you?
Including your three consecutive victories, Colin Farrell, the sextant, and maybe reality tv, the score is: Europe, 14; America, 1,422,118, and counting.
But hey, congratulations on the win. See if Kentucky is as kind…

And lastly, yes, I will admit it was a slow news week (but I am working on a little mid-week story, so stay tuned), a few pics of my new best friend. What can I say, we had an instant connection.

He can’t watch as beret begins her half hour long passing out while standing up process…

What an amazing voice he had…

Aight, I'm outie. Remember, watch your back, and

And the smile belongs to...

Audrey was correct... it's Tony Blair.


I guess they're not going with the top-down approach to improving dental hygiene.

Some pictures...finally.

Hi all,
Ok, this isn't high tech as you can already see, but it gets the job done. We can't all be billkang.com. :)

So, enjoy the pics! But before you do, please take some time out to think about the following:

Same language, same fashion (kind of), same sense of world superiority (well, back in the day at least)….but for an interesting sociological look into the differences between our two countries, take a quick minute to view the links below. I never thought I’d say this, but I miss Howie Mandel.

http://www.nbc.com/Deal_or_No_Deal/game/

http://www.channel4.com/money/ontv/deal_or_no_deal/



And just for fun…Billed on the MSN UK home page entertainment section today as the five can’t-miss shows of the week:

http://entertainment.msn.co.uk/tv/bakontv/setthevideo/

(I already have the recorder set for this gem…)>Thursday 21 September: I Smack And I'm Proud – ITV1, 9pmWhen I was a kid, my parents had this red plastic carpet beater which hung menacingly in a cupboard, like a giant fly swatter for naughty children. They named it 'Peter The Beater' and the mere suggestion of it being employed as a smacking device could turn my brothers and I from monsters to angels in approximately one nanosecond.



I was welcomed to Ireland (I connected in Dublin before landing at Heathrow) by none other than Michael Flatley himself...

And on afternoon of day one was comforted by a familiar sight...

Here's my hotel. Built in 1700 something and I think was an important building at some point or another.

The hotel sits at the top of Richmond Hill Road and this is the view overlooking the Thames. It's amazing. Just up the street is Richmond Park (which used to be a hunting ground for Kings). I ran there on Sunday and there are deer that just hang out within feet of the running paths. It's pretty cool.

Petersham hotel just down the road.
Some expert photography illustrating that the sun does in fact exist here...

And now, the moment of truth....MBI UK:

My office...

And Cam, a special presentation just for you of some of the sweet office decor...

But even better, my sweet ride...

And sweet 'hood... (Putney is on the District Line about 20 minutes from Central London)

Does it get any better than that? Peyton who?

Yes, I'm still managing to take very flattering pictures of myself over here. It was a theme party, don't ask...

And now, for what I hope will become a weekly feature...Name that Smile. I'm looking for England's best and whitest. Who is the owner of these pearly whites? Make a guess...and come back tomorrow for the answer.

Peace.

The Flat

sorry, i had to say it...i'm slowly being converted

1. the dollar officially sucks.
2. lodon is officially expensive.
3. my place is going to be officially sweet -- but since i'll have no money left to buy food or drink, your visit may not be so sweet.
4. actually, warm beer is half price, so we're cool.
5. assuming my juvenile criminal records remained sealed, i'm moving in on oct 15. longer than i would've liked, but hopefully worth the wait. check out a few pics.

http://www.townends .co.uk/site/search/screen_pdfs/pdfs/put_PUT060368.pdf


and now some other random observations...
1. when traveling down a road that is no bigger than a small bike path but is apparently a 2-way street, yield to the big red buses
2. indian food here is, for lack of a better word, brilliant. mandar would be so proud.
3. euro'08 qualifiers are on all the time...i love it.
4. mind the gap.
5. from sky tv news...a solid minute-long report on the air guitar championships in finland. some guy from japan - wearing a tiger sweatshirt and somehow oddly resembling michael flatley - won. the first prize...you guessed it, a real guitar.
6. seen: a gem of an ad in the richmond train station...
"kellog's crunchy nut...it's ludicrously tasty."
7. days in london: 6; days with sun: 6. it's time then i think to stop chuggin the haterade on british weather.
8. scotland is apparently the shit at elephant polo...who knew.
9. free william wallace.
10. you can in fact get peanut butter here...but only after a really strange look from your server, a minimum ten-minute wait, and out of a jar that was probably found behind an ally dumpster or something.
11. .co.uk rules.

anyway, real world starts tomorrow. hopefully i'll get my computer up soon so i can upload a few pics. i have some gems. and sorry for the mass emails, but write back and let me know what you're up to. until then,
cherrio mates

Day 2

ladies and gentlemen, friends and countrymen,


1. in england, spell check corrects words like 'favor'

2. i made it to and from the office without hitting anything...well, nothing alive...or moving...ok, i hit a curb, ok, two curbs, but very gently...ok, the opposite of that, but in england, curb is another way to say unavoidable pothole that everyone is bound to hit at some point...nielsten, thinking about making me the primary driver, aren't you?

3. you're doing something wrong if you aren't called a twit, a cheeky monkey, or bleary something at least once a day...

4. some thoughts on the office...
- you have 700 people, we have 70
- you have sal, we have mr. microwave...where is lean cuisine when you need it
- you have walmart, we have an abandoned steel factory...you have blockbuster, we have
an abandoned steel factory...you have sierra, we have, well, you get the idea
- but most importantly, you have, thanks to sandy's daring rescue, badlands...i'm not sure
the uk is ready for the big man
but, despite all our differences, we do have one common thread...cheap jewelry you're thinking, perhaps a dog plate or two....no, we have one shot, one opportunity, to bowl. that's right... kalvar vs, kornblum....brent vs. nigel....the epic battles continue cross the pond.

aight peeps, promise to only write from now on with interesting stories....or until i start hanging out with people instead of the computer at the internet cafe :)

the blogizzle will be up and running as soon as i find a place and get the computadora. i mention this only because i'm sure you're all anxiously waiting...


always,

Welcome to London

some early observations....

1. i love america
2. country grammar meets english country...awesome
3. i already have a sweet accent...as evidenced by the advances of two fine young men, who, for illustrative purposes, we'll call bucktooth tom and bucky covington, jr.
4. ireland is a popular place apparently...as evidenced by our abrupt pull-up during landing at the dublin airport cause another plane was on the runway
5. i have not slept in 24 hours...as evidenced by my awkward and continued use of 'as evidenced by'
6. i love bud light
7. if you are a backpacker and are traveling on a plane with civilized people, please shower before boarding. additionally, do not scratch your dirty partner on the plane for seven hours
8. my introduction of nelly to this society may well end up as revolutionary as the beatles to 1960s america
9. overheard (flight from dublin to london)
man (looking out window): at least it's not raining...
woman: yes, it looks nice
(actual weather conditions...extremely overcast with a downpour looming)
10. the irish don't believe in toilet seat covers...but they do believe in michael flatley celtic tiger (pictures to follow)
11. i love michael scofield
12. if you thought i was a bad driver on the right side of the road...
13. my tv channels...bbc1, bbc2, and something that plays fresh prince reruns - love it
14. keep it real...b/c there really aint any other way to keep it#

next installment....observations from the office -- this should be good.
miss you guys!
peace