Girls and Gaming

I subscribe to a feed called Gamer Grrlz, and I wanted to direct any fellow gamers out there to her topic about girls and gaming today.  As a gamer girl myself, I run into a lot of obstacles she spoke about in her blog, from rudeness in forums to blatant sexist trolls.  And I'm not just talking about the average boob size in games (which, to put a random number, I swear is probably JJJ).  There's also the problem of female characters in games, which apparently only have the range of useless Healer/love interest to (which actually pisses me off more) "strong" female characters, who have no social skills or otherwise act like a romping, stomping bee-otch. 

Anyway, check her blog out.  I could go on for quite awhile, but I'm cranky enough today.  I think I'll have some tea....

Happy Hogswatch/Christmas/Boxing Day & All That Rubbish

It had been my intent to post a drawing of "Happy Hogswatch" for Christmas, in reference to the movie Hogfather.  That didn't happen (obviously). When I realized that wasn't going to happen, I decided to post a drawing for Boxing Day, with someone boxing a kangeroo(ala Mighty Boosh).  That didn't happen either.  So I'll just say this: I hope everyone had a nice holiday, stuffed themselves with too much food that you shouldn't be eating anyway, slept way too much, and otherwise did absolutely nothing on your to-do list (quite like me!).

In the spirit of the Holidays (with a capital H), I want to say thank you to my family, who lie to me and say they read my blog. I want to give a big thanks to Steve Napierski, over at Dueling Analogs for sending me literally close to 90% of my blog traffic.  (I think the other 10% is me checking to make sure the blog hasn't mysterious disappeared.)  And of course, thank you to the readers; to the American audience, I hope I've inspired you to watch British Telley; and to the Brits, thanks for setting the record straight on a few things.  I'm still waiting to hear back about tea time.

Happy Holidays, see you all in 2010!

Practically British

As if I didn't want to be British enough, I've finally started watching my queue of Mary Queen of Shops.
Damn you Mary Portas! Now I want to be fabulous too.  I've only seen three and a bit episodes (I started one episode and then got pulled away).  I love it when she talks about fashion tribes.  I really like the idea that not everyone has to wear the same thing, and my favorites so far are the Fashion Rebels.  That is Essence of Portland!  You can't go anywhere downtown without seeing something off beat and truly original.  I was just down there today and I saw a woman with leg warmers and koi tights underneath a short black skirt.  The one thing I'd probably miss if I left Portland -- the Japanese Influence.


I'd love to chat more, but I don't have much time right now.  I wanted to mention that I got a few British mags today and I'm super excited.  I was crazy to buy them at lunch -- now I can hardly focus!  I picked up British Vogue, Elle UK, and Tatler, which is a new one to me.  Anyone else have any suggestions?

And remember to follow me on twitter. With the holiday crazies, I don't have much time to blog, but I tweet when I can. 

Ramsay's Cook-A-Long & Californication

Sounded like a dream come true for me.  I waffled between having my husband make fun of me, or having the chance to "cook along" with Gordon Ramsay. Then I realized they were airing it starting at 9 pm.  Are you people crazy?! I'd be starved by then!

I've always wished that Ramsay would have a new reality show, teaching people who "don't know anything" to cook.  Unfortunately, I quickly realized, I wouldn't be in the show either because it would be British based, and there would be many more people deserving (and I don't have a passport); or, if it was American, it would be full of the crazy Californian people that have reality tv down to an art.  And as a note, whenever you look at American telly and go, "what the hell happened to them?" The answer is California.  California happened.

Okay, I'm a little mean when it comes to California.  First of all, I'm from Oregon, and there's a rivalry between the two states.  Californians have a bad reputation (sometimes true, sometimes not) of coming to Oregon to "get away from it all" and then change the area to be everything they left behind.  And they drive house prices up.  It's complicated.

Back to the point, I really hate California when it comes to tv.  Everyone on TV here all look perfect: makeup is spotless (and sometimes in areas you didn't know needed makeup), all clothes have been fitted to that individual (and then you never see it again on the show) and all the women are, quite literally, close to a size 2.  A size 2 over here means having a waist of 20-24 inches.  Like when I was 12.  And all the women look the same.  It's like there's this formula, skinny +  blonde + straight hair + size 2 + big fake boobs= California.  It drives me crazy.  British telly has such a wide variety of women, they don't look the same to me.  They're all different sizes, shapes and dispositions.

I'll get off my high horse now.  Unless it's Binky.  I asked the Hogsfather for a My Little Binky set for Hogswatch.   For those of you who follow me on Twitter (you poor sods you), you know I recently watched Terry Pratchett's Hogswatch this weekend and I promised to blog about it.  I lied.

Tune in next time!

Follow me on Twitter!

I finally gave in and created a Twitter account.  Right now there's nothing there, but I will start tweeting soon!  Follow me and the other Forgotten Children at http://twitter.com/BritsAndBobs !

The 10 People of Britain

I'm quite convinced that there's only 10 people in Britain.  Every time someone tells me about a show, even though I've only been watching telly for about a year, there's at least one person I know.  Case in point: my sister in law put on some movie about Oscar Wilde ( I came in late and was throughly confused) and who's in it? Stephen Fry.

Anway, one of my favorite 10 British people has to be Gordon Ramsay. Okay, I'm no foodie, and I can barely boil water myself.  But Ramsay, especially on the F Word, makes food look soooo good.  I thought watching his show was going to make me feel horrid, refering to special ingredients and secret techniques, and feel embarassed at my own ignorance.  Instead I watch and say, I think I can make that!  Well, some of the time at least.  I just watched the episode with Graham Norton (another of the 10 people); they were talking about peaches and creams and other innuendos.                                                      

Speaking of funny gay presenter, I laugh at how many gay people are on telly.  It's not that there isn't gay people on our programs, but the character's main focus is about being gay.  Gay people on British telly are gay just because they are gay.  That doesn't make sense, does it?  Anyway, I just like to see people just get to be themselves.

I'm also amazed at the difference between British editing and American editing techniques.  I didn't notice it until I started switching between BBC America Top Gear to the DVDs.  The BBCA (new acronym, I called it) took more episodes and butchered out whole segments from the rest of the season.  But once we watched it from the DVDs, we realized that they were actually cut out  good parts.  You know, when the trio were being funny British men. It seems like BBCA thinks that the only thing Americans will watch are explosions (don't get me wrong, I love me  some good 'sploding) but I much prefer the more cinematic vignettes.

Anyway, everyone ready for the holiday season?  What's Christmas like in Britain?  The only idea I have is based off of Dr. Who, and you know how that goes!

Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

Okay, I do actually know a little bit about it.  I've read the Wikipedia page.  But that's about it.  This is the best my American mind can come up with.  An Englishman actually tried explaining it to me -- something about a fox (later understood to be Fawkes), an effigy, and setting things on fire. 

Leave me a comment about how you celebrate.  I love to hear each individual's story!  I'm sure it will help me understand much better than a bland article online.

Sir Sandwich, We Honor Thee

It's probably because I'm an American (as I've decided I can automatically attribute all my faults to), it's difficult for me to remember that the way I live is very different from the way other people live. Sure, on a broad scale, I understand that, I'm not THAT dumb, but I forget about the little things. Check out this link; a Japanese bento chef describes sandwiches from his (her?) childhood -- very, VERY different from the sandwiches I've known and nom-ed for my entire life. Cucumber is considered an acceptable ingredient?! BY ITSELF?!!! As an American I am outraged. I hope to have some pictures up later today of some REAL sandwiches.

Change Places!

First off, I'd like to thank Steve Pierski, creator of Dueling Analogs for posting my fan art and sending web traffic my way.  Beware though; his latest creation is Duke Nukem (I'm a huge gamer nerd) in a nightmare fueled hooker outfit.  Shudder.

Back on topic, I decided that we should "change places" this post -- instead of talking about British shows that American's should watch, I'm going to write about American shows that British people should watch.

The top of my list is Venture Brothers, on Cartoon Network during their Adult Swim run.  They just started their fourth season, and it's truly the best season so far.  I've liked Venture Brothers from the first season, but they've developed the characters and the story from the beginning, and it really shows as episode after episode builds and builds until you're dying for your next Venture fix.

I always hate trying to describe a show.  For full information, I always suggest the Wikipedia page.  Why  you should watch it though:  it's perverse, violent, bloody, hysterical, and almost always a bit awkward.  I laughed my ass off in the latest episode.  It started out with the Monarch had already captured the two boys, Hank and Dean.  Monarch was arguing with Dr. Venture for the ransom money, when another rival of Monarch, Captain Sunshine, busts in, kicks his ass, "rescues" Hank, and then flies off.  Due to the rules of "arching" (when you're a bad guy and you're fighting your "arch-nemisis") Monarch is then obligated to get Hank back from creepy, suburban pedophile Captain Sunshine.  Doesn't make sense?  Neither did Mighty Boosh.  Just go and watch it.

Another awesome show is Titan Maximum, another Adult Swim exclusive (see a pattern forming?).  It's like watching Voltron all over again, but this time with bad language, flaring tempers, and sexual tension.  The show starts after the glory days of Titan Maximum (the Voltron-esque robot).  The team was in retirement, until one their members decides to take over the world and they have to reform TITAN MAXIMUM!  Seth Green is the voice of Gibbs, the bad guy, and he does an awesome job. Definitely check this show out; they just started a few weeks ago, so it would be very easy to catch up.

Speaking of Seth Green, look for just about any show he's been in.  Chances are good that it's another great show to watch.  Him and Matthew Senreich also do Robot Chicken, the wonderfully perverse sketch comedy that uses dolls from the 80's (think He-Man, Thundercats, Rainbow Bright, etc) with claymation and effectively destroys your childhood memories.  They've done two Dr. Seuss rhyming stories, one about Whores down in Whoville, and the other Horton and the town of what-WHAT!!!  Others of note is Skeletor and other badguys stuck in traffic ("Behold! The gaseous stench of Skeletor's breakfast burrito!"), the tooth fairy receiving the award for darkest sketch in comedy history, and a good 2 minute clip of Hello Kitty hacking up a hairball.  They are currently running the fourth season stateside, but because they're all small clips, you'll get a lot of perverse enjoyment out of it.

So apparently this post turned into "Why you should watch Adult Swim."  Didn't mean to, but what the hell, they deserve it.  All these pictures today are from their site. The really, REALLY great thing about them is that they post a lot, and I mean A LOT, of their shows on their webpage.  Go forth, yon British peeps, and know that there are some cool American shows amongst the rubbish.

Just Popping in for a Quickie

Stephen Fry and zoologist Mark Carwardine are filming a rare parrot....when the parrot decides it likes Mark.  This clip also proves that there are only 10 people in Britain and they're all on each other's shows.  (Stephen Fry worked with Hugh Laurie, see previous posts)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T1vfsHYiKY&feature=player_embedded

Comic Relief

A must see for anyone who misses the Doctor until the next bonus episode comes out in November. Catherine Tate and David Tennant get together for comedic short for something called the Red Nose Day, which is a British charity that helps raise money with the help of comedians. I'll be honest, I don't quite understand it, I think it's one of those things you really have to be British to understand.

But the point is, check out the link below for BBC's Youtube page. The sketch is only about 6 minutes long -- Catherine Tate plays an unruly high school student and David Tennant is the new English teacher. Who's Scottish. Which means he can't teach English, amiright? Well use of six minutes. Copy and paste this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxB1gB6K-2A or use the Comic Relief link on the left side of the page.

Speaking of David Tennant (okay, yes, I could just write "David." But could you refer to the Doctor that way? I can't.) Speaking of David Tennant, he is currently working on the movie Hamlet, which is why I think he left the show. As far as I can tell, every Scottish boys' dream is to play Hamlet (according to an interview on Top Gear.) Or maybe he said that it was every boy's dream to be the Doctor? I guess I'll have to watch the episode again.

Also, Catherine Tate has her own show called, big surprise, The Catherine Tate Show. It's another sketch comedy that plays on Friday evening on BBC America. I love Catherine Tate's "in your face" type of attitude, and she's plays a great unruly British brat. Love it, love it, love it!

And while your spending your Friday evenings with BBC America (which I think has an HD channel, but I don't get it, so it doesn't count) tune in for the Graham Norton Show. (This is what I love about British people -- it's like everyone knows everyone.) However, it's a talk show, not a sketch show, but I would still call it comedy. He's over-the-top gay and says what he wants. I've only caught clips of episodes, but I definitely need to watch more!

Hope I've filled everyone's Friday nights! All of these shows (in my area, with my cable programming) is on rather early -- as soon as I get home from work, I turn on the telly and for about three hours it's British humor almost non-stop. But since it's on early, it doesn't interfere with Friday night shenanigans. So I can watch their comedies while cooking or cleaning, and still have a night to party. Now only if they had Saturday morning cartoons....

Pirate's Life for Me!

So this *barely* qualifies as a "British," but I wanted to announce that Portland's Pirate Festival earned the Guinness Book of World Record of "Largest Gathering of Pirates."  YARR!!!  I believe the title was held by the Germans (think of James May anytime you refer to "Germans") in one of their theme parks.

I was on the scene, first hand, to make sure we beat them! In the end, we had more than 1,600 people qualify, and that wasn't even everyone!  It was quite a pain; it took FOREVER to get through the gate, sign your name, and then wait until EVERYONE was counted.  Thankfully, about halfway through, Captain Bogg and Salty performed on stage, and helped keep everyone entertained.

Here's me and my husband-to-be at festival.  I hope to get more pictures later, I just have to wait for the mum-in-law to upload the 5,000 pictures she takes everyday.  (I must say though, with all the shenanigans we get up to, it takes about that many.)

A Trip Through Time and Space

Emphasis on "trip."

I finally sat down and started watching the Mighty Boosh.  I hesitate to say that I understand the show now; let's say I'm now able to differentiate between the things I should understand, and the things that have no understanding. 

The show is about two friends, Howard Moon and Vincent Noir, who work at the "Zooniverse," a crap-tastic, underfunded, badly run zoo.  Shenanigans ensue.  No, really.  In the first episode, Howard Moon is black mailed by his boss, Bob Fossil, to fight a kangaroo.  Noir convinces him that he can train Howard before the fight, which is less than 2 days away.  They buy horrible training suits, those nasty vinyl, speed suit type atrocities.  There's a scene where Noir is showing Moon tapes of previous kangaroo fights, with words like "disembowelment" and "eat off a man's face" but I couldn't quite focus on what was being said.  The scene is set up so it your looking at Moon and Noir from the back of the TV, and while the tapes are playing, the only thing you could really see is Howard Moon's distinct man-bags in the vinyl suit.  I deserve either an apology or breakfast, one of the two.

Noir gets help from their local mystic, Naboo, who blows special dust on Noir's face that sends him on a vision quest and....look, it's ridiculous.  Do you even believe me?  I wouldn't. 

Think of the show as if Family Guy musical numbers got mixed with Robot Chicken's randomness,  fourth wall jokes a la Chowder, and horribly trippy segments like Misadventures of Flapjack. But all live-action.  And British.

I'll mention again that you can catch The Mighty Boosh on Cartoon Network during their Adult Swim  time slots.  However, I suggest that you watch it unedited -- it's difficult enough to distinguish what should make sense anyway.

Happy Emergency Services Day!

Today, being 09/09/09, is Emergency Services Day in the UK.  Their emergency hotline number is 999, instead of 911 for us Yankees.  Other than the Queen thanking the coastguard, and fellow blogger at cakewrecks.blogspot.com with some interesting cakes, there's really nothing special.  But check out those cakes!

I recently started watching Torchwood, finally.  It's a spin-off of Doctor Who, so I was afraid it was going to be awful.  But other than having a few insights to one liners ("That hand is worthless to anyone but me!") Torchwood is definitely it's own show; instead of the cheery, "save the day" feeling you get from Doctor Who, its a much darker, more realistic show.  Realistic in the sense that feelings get hurt, situations don't go as planned, people die (oh yes, do people die).  There's still a lot of wibbly wobbly spacey wacey type stuff (including a secret underground compound), but so far it has been nowhere near as fantastical as Doctor Who.  And the sex!  My goodness!  Sure, it's not real sex, but as an American (and a liberal one, in my opinion) I was quite surprised to see simulated (stimulated?) sex, repeatedly, in almost every episode.  Not that I mind, I'm an adult, but someone could have told me! (Maybe I would have tuned in sooner!)

I have failed to mention the Mighty Boosh, which can actually been seen on American television through Cartoon Network (check local listings blah blah blah).  It's a comedy show, about ...uhhh....there's these guys, and they uh, and one of them is a magician? A fortuneteller?  Okay, seriously, I have no idea what the show is about. Even trying to read the Wikipedia page to pretend I know something did me no good.  My friend showed it to me one night, at 2 in the morning, after drinking since 7 that night.  Since then, he's talked non-stop about how great it is.  I swear I'll watch it, promise! If you're going to watch it, I suggest getting the DVD; Cartoon Network edits it so it'll fit in the time slot.  Stupid American commercials.

Billie Piper's Secret

What do you do after travelling through time and space with the Doctor?  Apparently, become a hooker.  Or more specifically, a call girl.  And then write about it. In a secret diary.  And then tell everyone about it.  Because that's the way it works, right?

Check out the attached link for Showtime's official page for Billie Piper in "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" with our very own little Miss Bad Wolf (ruff ruff) as the "call girl." 

I haven't actually seen this show yet.  In fact, I knew about it for exactly 15 seconds before I rushed over here to tell everyone.  So if any of you have seen it, PLEASE let me know!  I'm dying to find it now!

Shameless Plugging

Okay, so maybe its not British, and it certainly isn't telley, but I wanted to direct everyone's attention to Girl Genius,which you should see the advert to your left, or the bottom of the page. It's a webcomic/graphic novel/comic book by Kaja and Phil Foglio. Very steampunk, and the location is their made up version of Europe, and England exists, so that's good enough to make it British, right?

Agatha Heterodyne is the main character, who thought she was no-good at building machines, but turns out she's actually the lost heir to the near-mythical royal family. I'm not giving much away -- it's obvious from the start that Agatha is "more than she seems." What I love about Agatha is that she doesn't seem too stuck on herself -- instead of wallowing in a pool of self pity or despair, Agatha bravely marches forward, accepts who she is and what she is, and gets to the things that matter: building death rays. It's the must have accessory of the year!

You should visit at www.girlgeniusonline.com. I'll also post a link on the left.

Girl Genius just won three awards from the WCCA, Web Cartoonist Choice Awards, for Outstanding Comic, Outstanding Writers, and Outstanding Environmental Design. Something gives the hint that they are, what's the word? Oh yes, OUTSTANDING or sumfing.

A Bit of Brit

Hello children! Today's topic is on older British television, that's already off the air. No, I'm not talking about Monty Python, simply because it's one of the more popular in the States and doesn't need any more fan service.

But since we're on the subject, I want to take a quick minute and geek on a game called Fluxx. The rules are simple, because they change depending on the cards you play. I'm not going to explain it, but look into it, because it's a blast. The reason I bring it up is because they have a Monty Python version.

I haven't gotten a chance to play it yet, but check out the link to Looney Labs, the creators, for more information.

Okay, onto other shows. I recently found YouTube postings (yes, linked on the left) called "A Bit of Fry and Laurie." If that second name sounds familiar, yes, it's our lovable Dr. House, Hugh Laurie. (What do you mean you don't love Hugh Laurie?! Push off!) He's paired up with Stephen Fry, and they do sketch comedy a la Monty Python. BBC Comedy sponsors the YouTube clips, and the DVDs are available through normal shopping means (oh please, just type it in the Google toolbar, I know you have one).

When I was younger, my older brother was very much into British comedy at the time, and he got Fawlty Towers one year for Christmas. It was about John Cleese's character Basil Fawlty, and Basil's wife Sybil Fawlty (Prunella Scales) and they owned a hotel. Hilarity ensues. The episode that stands out the most (its been 10+ yrs since I've seen it) was when Basil sets up the most amazing surprise birthday party for his wife, but pretends all day that he's forgotten. Sybil drops hints the size of boulders, and just as Basil's about to unveil the surprise, she gets upset and storms out of the hotel and drives off. Too embarrassed to tell the guests what happened (her mother, after all, never quite approved of Basil). And then there was Basil the rat, but I forget what happens.

Check out link to Dr. Who Cakes

I just found a link to some great Dr. Who cakes, including a few tardis' (tardi?), a standing cyberman, and a gingerbread K-9. Just wanted to share with everyone.

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2009/08/sunday-sweets-doctor-who.html

Mandatory Viewing, or The Only Things on BBC America

No promises that I'm going to update every day, or even in any promised order. I want to beef up the blog for now, so in the future my posts might come a little more sporadic.

First of all, you must see Doctor Who. The show is about a Time Lord who travels through time and space and across the universe to save people/the universe/say witty things. When I say "Doctor Who," I'm referring to the new series that was restarted in 2005. Christopher Eccleston started as the 9th Doctor in 2005, but only stayed on for 13 episodes. He was succeeded by David Tennant, the 10th Doctor, who just recently stepped down. Some of my favorite episodes includes a generation of people trapped in a futuristic enclosed highway (for flying cars, of course); statues with malicious intent; ANY Christmas episode; World War I zombies; when they meet Madame d'Pompadour; and when they meet William Shakespeare. It's not all fun and games though. Early on the series explores the ramifications of changing the past. The writers pay attention to the space/time continuum "rules," but they keep them loose enough so it doesn't ruin the fun.

Next up, Top Gear is the funniest show about cars. At first I only watched it because my husband wanted to, but the more I watched the funnier it was. I have no idea how James May, Richard Hammond, and Jeremy Clarkson convinces the BBC to give them money. At times it seems like they do nothing but bicker with each other and argue with anyone that doesn't agree, but if you look closely, you'll see that...uh....a lifelong friendship....on screen magic....okay, all they do is bicker and argue. But it's hilarious. The show never ceases to pull amazing races and stunts. In one of the latest episodes they raced the fastest recorded car in the world against a super-special fighter jet (I forget the details, just read: awesome). The car had to race ONE mile, turn around, and then race back to the start/finish, while the fighter jet had to go one mile UP, in the air, and then come back down and cross the start/finish. Another season Clarkson raced across Japan, trying to beat May and Hammond on the Japanese Bullet Train. This is not your average train. It's pretty much the same formula over and over. One of the hosts races against crazy triple black diamond skiers/Olympic Luge team/another absolutely ridiculous thing. They also have guests on the show, called the Star in a Reasonable Priced Car, so expect to see the only other 10 people in Britain on the show.

Finally, for comedy, check out Little Britain. It's a sketch comedy show that features Matt Lucas and David Williams dressing up, acting silly, and generally making a mockery of everyone and everything. You can feel the Monty Python influence, but the sketches and characters are original. However, we watched this on DVD, and noticed that watching episodes back to back saps it of some of its humor. Try spacing it out if you haven't caught this show yet.

One more thing. Dear BBC America, please broadcast in HD, plzkthxbai.

Welcome to the first posting of The Queen's Forgotten Children!

Welcome to the first posting of "The Queen's Forgotten Children!" Da da da dum! Okay, it's hard to be serious when I know the only people reading this (for now!) are people I already know and have heard my rants already. It's like being given the key to the city, except there's only a 100 people in the town and everyone remembers when you ran around naked when you were three.

For those of you that haven't been subject to my drunken questions after a night on the town, with equally drunken answers scribbled on soiled napkins, I've created this blog specifically to talk about British television. I've fallen in love with them in a very short amount of time, like, well, every other girl in the world who gets a bit "soft" around a man with an accent. (Did that sound British? At times I find I don't know if I sound British, normal American, or my usual crazy language).

Homework time! See where it says "children?" That's my way of making all of you help me write this blog. :) I want everyone to send me an email about their favorite British show, and why they like it. It doesn't have to be a long article, but please something more than "Monty Python." (If your answer *is* Monty Python, please tell me your favorite sketch or movie.)

This week in news (that I've
just made up.):

David Tennant's popularity has gone down for leaving Doctor Who, but really I can't stay mad at him. Lily Allen's popularity is up, due to some backing in America, though I like her better when she's fat.

Being Human is a great series to watch if you love the paranormal and think Stephanie Meyer's should go shoot herself. It's a show about (stick with me through this) a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost all live in the same "flat." I know it sounds like an episode of Friend's, but I promise it's an engaging show. You'll thank me after the first half of the first episode.

Warehouse 13, though not British, is another interesting paranormal series to look into. You know at the end of Indiana Jones, they say it's being taken care of by "top men," and there's that iconic scene with the warehouse full of god-knows-what? The show's kinda like that, about people having to take care of all the paranormal, wibbly wobbly timey-wimey stuff.