[solved]American questions for British people

I think the skinhead subculture was initially based around listening to black music but they left reggae behind when it started to develop themes of black nationalism that most of them couldn't relate to.

I also have no idea what I'm talking about but the Wikipedia article is a worthwhile read.

there are still skins who identify with the original fashion/music subculture (traditional ska/rocksteady/reggae, turn ups, Ben Sherman shirts, braces, DMs etc.) It basically grew out of a mixing of working class mod and rude boy cultures.

although some of the National Front skins were diaspora from the original skins schism, mostly it was just racist/disaffected pricks reappropriating the look - mostly for the aggressive appearance/nazi legacy I suppose.

a film like This is England gives an interesting, if oversimplified, snapshot of the dichotomy.

I met a skinhead in college who was belligerently pro-semite. It took me awhile to wrap my head around that one but after watching him put himself in a hospital trying to break a bottle over his head, I realized that no matter what kind of skinhead you are, you are still an idiot.

i think being overly seriously invested in any subculture based on fashion and music is pretty fucking stupid

throw the ideology out the window, homie

Question for Bruegel, Mitchell, other Londoners: what's a really good, really classically English pub I can take my girlfriend to when she visits on the 11th?

I'm also looking for recs for good restaurants that serve recognisably English food. I want to prove to her that, yes, it does exist.

Soma wrote:Question for Bruegel, Mitchell, other Londoners: what's a really good, really classically English pub I can take my girlfriend to when she visits on the 11th?

I'd go for one of the central Samuel Smith pubs. The Princess Louise or the Cittie of Yorke spring to mind.

The Holly Bush in Hampstead is pretty hard to fuck with if you are looking for a cosy retreat after a wintery walk on the heath.

Co sign on Samuel Smith, I like Lyceum Tavern if you are that way.

Don't have extensive knowledge but if in were in the areas that contained them I would probably go to; The Victoria (Paddington), Bree Louise (Euston), Ship and Shovel (Charing Cross), Paternoster (St. Paul's), The Slaughtered Lamb (Clerkenwell), The Volunteer (Baker St.), Bunch of Grapes (London Bridge), Henry Addington (Canary Wharf) and The Porterhouse (Covent Garden)

More through familiarity and ease than a five star endorsement.

My respective locals have been Dial Arch in Woolwich and now The Drayton Court in West Ealing. Also went to The Cow in Stratford a lot when working at Olympics.

Thank you for the recommendations. I haven't even pondered what sights to see yet and I'm already confident about this 'holiday'.

Ever had a corpse-gas explosion in your basement?

This reminded me a bit of The Quincunx: http://gizmodo.com/how-corpses-helped-shape-the-london-underground-1493312117

Put another way, the ground was so solidly packed with the interlocked skeletons of 17th-century victims of the Great Plague that the Tube's 19th-century excavation teams couldn't even hack their way through them all. The Tube thus deviates SW-by-NE to avoid this huge congested knot of skulls, ribs, legs, and arms tangled in the soil—an artificial geology made of people, caught in the throat of greater London.

looks like a good read

would heartily recommend that any visitors to London with an interest in this stuff take the guided tour of Highgate's West Cemetary:

http://highgatecemetery.org/visit/cemetery/west

Did the "John Madden Football"/"Madden NFL" series of games come out in your country, were they widely available or hard to get? I assume there had to be people who wanted to play it, if because it's so popular here. Maybe.

We never got "Championship Manager" and almost no one has even heard of it, not even video game enthusiasts.

I got Madden '92 for Xmas '91.

Me and my bro had already played if for days by the time I opened it on Christmas day (having found it on the top of Mom's wardrobe in early December).

My bro was a big "grid iron" fan due to Channel 4 exposure in the '80s. He supported the Redskins, I followed individual players and was particularly fond of Warren Moon.

My main memories of Madden '92 are making Barry Saunders spin like a whirling dervish/tasmanian devil and trying to get players hit by the ambulance after injuries. My bro was obsessed with audibles.

I was a much bigger fan of EA's NHL franchise.

I remember being very jealous of Barry White having seen footage of him on The Word playing Madden on a Genesis hooked up to the huge screen of his home cinema.

Madden was a big game when those consoles were released. Even people who had no interest in American Football played it.

I imagine Brian Lara cricket wasn't released in US either.

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/single/lush/when_i_die/

how was this the real album art?

internet says its the back of a cd promo.

still pretty weird.

Can you infringe copyright on a promo CD? Not sure?

What is Euro Vision?

Eurovision is an international singing contest between members of the European Broadcasting Union. You call in to rank your ten favourite performances and your votes count towards the overall vote of your country of residence.

Morrissey wanted to represent the United Kingdom a couple of years ago but wasn't allowed to. It's a shame, we would have won even if he performed poorly.

Of everything I've heard about this contest the absolute strangest thing about it is that you seem to care.

Iceland should have been higher, imo.

Duff... wrote:Of everything I've heard about this contest the absolute strangest thing about it is that you seem to care.

I suppose I don't. I've never actually watched it. It would just be cool if 'Eurovision Song Contest winner' was listed on the back of Autobiography along with 'Second Greatest Living Briton', 'Greatest Northern Male Past or Present' and 'given the keys to the city of Tel Aviv'.

If you watched the Icelandic intro video, that's where I'm getting married.

When you were in school did you learn about the attack on Mers-el-Kebir in 1940 and if so how was it framed? I've been watching The Sorrow and the Pity and I had honestly never heard of this before. 1,297 Frenchmen dead.  Early WWII was dankest depths.