Royal Weddings are the price we pay for Dr. Who

[TayTay]

And Torchwood and all the other wonderful dramatic exports from the UK.

I avoided all the hype on this wedding this week, tuned in for a little while this morning and watched it it mid-way through. My favorite part was the fly-over of the RAF that commemorated the Battle of Britain. I really liked that part. I thought the Royal Wedding, without the hype, was great fun.

Ahm, I was at a re-enactment of the Battle of Concord in MA a couple of weeks back. I loved that event, got into the spirit of the moment and heartedly booed the Brits and cheered the Colonials who fought them off. This was a nice time to reflect on all my commoner ancestors who participated in events on the day of April 19th and who helped create America.

Can't I do both? Wish our British cousins well, appreciate their way of doing them and then honor my own, as well as my own ideals? It's not an "either or" situation, is it?

[joeybee12]

1. And AbFab...

I suppose we can suffer through this farce since Abfab returns this summer.

[Snoutport]

2. WHAT??!!! are they doing another season?? :0) FABULOUS!

[TayTay]

6. And Gavin and Stacey

and Simon Pegg and Shawun of the Dead and so forth.

Really, Royal Weddings are not so high a price to pay if we get a Shaun of the Dead out of it, now is it?

[joeybee12]

7. A sort of abbreviated season...only 3 episodes...nt

[TayTay]

14. I saw something on that

It seems the girls have aged and they didn't want to do more than 3 eps.

[sufrommich]

3. And Hyacinth Bucket. nt

[joeybee12]

5. No, no, it is pronounced Bouquet!

I doubt that will be back, sadly, they're all too old!

[sufrommich]

10. I watch the reruns whilst sipping tea from my Royal Doulton

Periwinkle tea service.

[GodlessBiker]

12. And while reading my holiday brochures.

[SidDithers]

8. And Mitchell and Webb...nt

Sid

[msanthrope]

15. REALLY!!!! Oh, joy!!! n/t

[zazen]

4. don't forget Downton Abbey

which interestingly really illustrates their apparently unavoidable conditioning to be obsessed with rank.

I can wish them well. It's their cultural experience and it was cool to check in for about 20 minutes this morning--I didn't even know it was going to be on! Aesthetically it was beautiful and historically (as in, watching a ritual that had taken place over centuries) it was interesting.

I think in our case, the American media will seize on any form of bread and circuses (including mass disaster-triggered tragedy) to avoid the realities of an economic depression, environmental degradation and energy descent. This supplied a week's worth of drugs. They'll have to move on to something equally distracting next week.

[TayTay]

13. I have a rather dismal view of the American Media

and their weird coverage of Events like this. I come away thinking that the media, apart from the American people, want a Monarchy here. They create royalty here. They did it for Teddy Kennedy's funeral, in a way.

The problem with this type of saturation coverage is that it strangles anything of meaning out of the actual event. It becomes about the coverage. This is the real reason why I try to watch these events on C-Span or the BBC or so forth. The event happens then, actual people have actual things to say and then the event ends.

[meegbear]

9. The Royal Wedding wasn't an "export" ...

It was treated as a "news story". hell, the WEATHER CHANNEL was covering it.

I don't recall all the network and cabel channels interrupting their broadcasts so they could all air "Are You Being Served?"

[TayTay]

11. True, but it won't have a sequel any time soon either

And the fact that American channels went all out is not the Brits fault. (The fault, Horatio lies in our own stars, not theirs.)

I didn't really watch anything royally related this week. I escape with liberal doses of On Demand shows. (NOVA is On Demand, which is good and bad. David Koch is prominently mentioned as a principal sponsor of NOVA now which bugs the crap out of me.)

Anyway, turn it off. There is a button on a tv that shuts it off. Might I suggest finding it and using it, liberally, as needed.

[TayTay]

16. Daleks attend Royal Wedding party among commoners

Can't have a proper Royal Wedding street party without Daleks:

"Royal wedding parties abound but one street party is set to have a waiter with a difference.

Doctor Who fan Chris Balcombe spent a week transforming the Dalek, painting it in red, white and blue and decorating it with flags.

A picture of Wills and Kate has pride of place between the normally lethal ray gun and plunger arms.

And in place of the familiar black plunger, he created a mechanical grip to allow the dalek to carry trays piled high with drinks and sandwiches."

http://www.ludlowthompson.com/property_news/Crazy_but_True_Stories/Dr_Who_monster_to_serve_Royal_Wedding_drinks/article.htm?id=934

Thank God, there will always be an England.

[VWolf]

17. and The Who, and Led Zeppelin, and The Beatles n/t

[Javaman]

18. Okay, that is probably the best argument I have heard in favor of the wedding.

I bow to your superior insight!

Cheers! LOL :)

[TayTay]

21. And I, in turn, agree that wretched excess is no virtue

And there has been wretched excess this week.

Thank goodness for the Beeb though. They did put it all in wonderful perspective, all in all. They did a better job covering this event than the American networks did.

[Appenzell Wars]

19. Don't forget Top Gear. nt

[Withywindle]

20. Couldn't agree more!

And it's even more fun if you imagine Captain Jack Harkness showing up for the wedding night.

[TayTay]

22. Yeah, that would be cool!

Though I would also like to think of Gwen Cooper being there with her lovely husband. I love them as a couple. They look good together, not fakey as so many American TV couples look.

But Captain Jack, oh yeah, he needs to crash that wedding. (With Alonso on his arm?)

[liberalhistorian]

23. Best. Thread. Title. Ever.

At least for today, lol.