The British Infatuation with the Royal Family

Since I've been studying in London, I've been inundated with the Royal Family.  They're everywhere- on the front page of the newspaper, in conversation (Harry & Kate set a date!!!), in people's thoughts-- but not their wishes, their cerebral cortex like the thought police from Orwell's 1984.  Well not quite, I'm just being a nitwit.  The point is, the British love and pine over the Royal Family and I don't understand it.

In fact, I think people like them for the wrong reasons.  Reading tabloids and vicariously experiencing the lavish lives of others, in my opinion, is sad and depressing.  So is buying a Limited Edition Harry & Kate Wedding tea tin that is currently being sold at the grocery store around the corner from my flat.  But, the fact that the Wedding will attract an influx or tourists which will then be at least a moderate boon for the English economy is great.  Go Kate and Harry!  But I don't think many people think about that.  

Plus there are a couple darkly humorous ironies.  My favorite being "the Royal Mint" and "the National Debt."  Throughout the semester, I've been devising possible cons to crash the Royal wedding, but so far none have been particularly ingenious.  Besides, it's a calculated risk and it's hard to overcome the glaring negative variable of getting deported or arrested.  When the big day comes, I'll probably be in my flat avoiding the crowd of idiots.  

By the way, if you're inquiring about my choice of picture.  It's King George III of Hanover.  But more importantly- how awesome is that outfit?  I bet a whole family of animals died for that coat... which is horrible.  I hope peta doesn't send me a cease & desist letter.  also, I have a 5 pound bet with my flatmate that I can make one of the Buckingham Palace guards laugh- I'll let you know how that goes.

I'm Back! (here's JONNY)

Hey loyal readers (admittedly almost all of you are my extended family), thanks for your patience and tolderance for my absence.  although it was not a result of laziness, but actually fastidiousness and zeal for midterm preparation that caused the blog drought.  Think John Nash from Beautiful Mind, but instead of differential geometry I was reading and writing essays.  If you hate the empty feeling of disappoint of coming to this blog and discovering it hasn't been updated-- become a subscriber via Google Reader and you'll get an email every time I write a new entry!

I digress...

Over the weekend, as those of you who have access to my Facebook profile know- I was in Rome.  It was lovely.  Rome is one of those places that is so beautiful and exotic that as I'm walking around I can scarcely imagine people actually living there.  In many of the alleys, the first floor windows were unusually high (almost 10 feet) above the sidewalk.  I remembered reading once that some areas of old New York were build this way as a design necessity.  Apparently, in the 1800s when horses were versatile helpmates as modern cities expanded- there was a massive glut in the market for manure.  At this time in NYC, there was something like 200,000 horses who produce, maybe, 20 lbs of dung per day.  That's 4 million lbs. of poo.  Per day.  There was simply no place to put to dispose of it so there were literally piles of manure on every street.  As a result, it flooded  people's basements in the spring and probably stank to the high heavens during summer.  Perhaps the same thing happened in Rome.

I got to see the Pantheon, again, which was just as breathtaking as it was the first time.  The Vatican was probably my favorite site, even though I decided not to brave the 4 hour line to get it.  I find it interesting, now that I'm taking a class on Islam, how Christianity has a central authority.  Islam's lack of a hierarchy seems to be a double-edged sword.  In one respect, there aren't many fatwahs (laws) concerning religious belief as Islamic scholars are concerned more with behavior, specifically family law.  On the other hand, though, the ambiguity of the Koran has created a plurality of sects- many of which vehemently disagree with each other and have committed unspeakable atrocities in the spirit of jihad (which translates to stuggle, not holy war).

One thing that makes Rome different from London is the street hustlers.  They're a ubiquitous facet of the city's underbelly.  I smiled a little when I saw a group of them hastily pack up their trinkets and fake sunglasses and dash up the Spanish Steps to avoid police.  One thing that does bother me a little is the sale of Che Guevara tee shirts.  I'm sure this contempt will only be exasperated when I eventually get around to reading some of his work (particularly his book on guerilla warfare), but I wonder how he'd feel if he knew he would become a pop culture icon whose legacy is bastardized by the capitalist system he had grown to loathe so much.  By the way if you're interested in El Che and want to see a good film about his life, rent the two part Che, starring Benicio Del Toro.  Not Motorcylce Diaries. 

I'm back from Rome and have the whole week off so expect a couple more posts before weeks end.  Until then, cheers from across the pond.

Sorry for the hiatus, updates coming soon!