A Hard Choice Lies Ahead

You’ll be faced with numerous choices in London. Where shall I live [Edgware Road, Marble Arch, Earl’s Court, Bayswater, West Ken, Fulham, etc.]?  With whom shall I live [Tom, Dick, Prince Harry, or with an English family, or maybe solo in Clapham]?  What kind of phone network should I use? Should I go to Brussels, Bruges & Amsterdam on fall break OR would Vienna, Budapest & Prague better suit? Should I date that charming Italian bloke, or the German guy? Decisions, decisions, decisions. What would life be without them! Descartes summed up the human situation 400 years ago with his famous ‘cogito ergo sum’, or ‘I think therefore I am’,  but perhaps events in the 20th century have eclipsed Cartesian rationalism in favour of the free choice implicit in ‘eligo ergo sum’, I choose therefore I am.

Tough decisions all. But there can be one even tougher as you are coming to a tribal country. As in North America, with its tribal native peoples, so too Britain had its indigenous tribal groups like the Belgae, the Cantii, Iceni, etc. They are long gone, their only legacies being hill forts and place names like Belgium, Kent and Scotland [after the Irish ‘Scoti’ tribe]. The real tribes today are football tribes. Altogether there are 92 professional football teams in England, almost three times the number of NFL franchises in the much larger USA. Most big cities have two: for example, Manchester has United and City, Liverpool has Liverpool and Everton, Sheffield has United and Wednesday, Birmingham has Villa and City, Bristol has Rovers and City. One is usually red and the other is blue, which are also the colours of our two principal political parties.

Your ‘eligo ergo sum’ dilemma is that, strangely enough, the ICLC is in London, by some distance the largest city in the UK. As such it has 11 pro teams, 5 of which are in the top division. It’s like New York, Chicago or LA having 5 major league baseball teams and/or NFL franchises. The big five in London are [alphabetically], Arsenal [north], Chelsea [south-west], Fulham [south-west], QPR [west] and Tottenham [north]. The next tier has 3 teams, Millwall [south-east], Crystal Palace [south-east] and West Ham [east], and the remaining three are Charlton [south-east], Brentford [west] and Leyton Orient [east]. Identifying with one team, adopting it, and wearing its colours explain some of the violence associated with football in the UK and globally.

A big moment in Claire's life

 So whom are you going to choose? The easiest choice would be Chelsea. After all it is the closest to us, it is very successful and the London centre is located in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.  But a lot of people dislike Chelsea with a passion. Our Sarah is one such: she supports ABC, Anyone But Chelsea.  She would probably go for Swansea this year as they are a Welsh team and Sarah is Welsh. I am a little schizoid in that I support two teams: my first love, the super hoops of QPR, and my new love, Arsenal. [Yes, my wife knows about it: she’s OK so long as the bigamy of my tribal loyalties do not set the template for my domestic arrangements.] I will be torn when the two play each other in the Premiership. Heather, meanwhile, is ABMU, anyone but Manchester United. Otherwise she is pretty secretive about her affiliation, but I have a suspicion that she has an affection for Preston North End as she studied at the university there. Claire meanwhile has never shown much interest in football, but recently she came out of the closet in a big way. Her support for Charlton Athletic is plain for all to see. They are a solid, friendly community club based in south-east London. The first game we will attend this term will be the game between Charlton and Sheffield Wednesday. You will also meet Claire’s friend Floyd who is generally to be found in her office.

This looks like more than bigamy...

Many of you might end up living in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham. If so, Fulham and QPR are strong possibilities. If you don’t care much for footie, you can choose your tribe by colour. Most are either red and white or blue and white; notable exceptions are West Ham who are purple and blue and Crystal Palace who are red and blue. Meanwhile, because of my tribal bigamy, I will look like a rainbow most of the term.

-Bill

If we were eligible...

Yesterday I posted the travel writing competition winner.  Today the End of Term Party continues with the ICLC's entries into the photo competition.  Of course we can't enter the real competition, and we probably wouldn't win if we did.  My caveat is this: Bill, Sarah and I like taking strange photos.  It keeps our lives interesting.  You know you do it, too.

People: A hard day's night for Claire.  I had to choose between coloring in John Lennon's face or a yellow submarine! (photo entry by Bill)

Architecture: Look what returned back home to the ICLC this weekend!  Sadie, you're off the hook and I hope you put that toaster bag to good use.  No more cold cheese and jam sandwiches for us! (photo entry by Claire)

Landscape: William Shakespeare was married to Anne Hathaway in a shotgun wedding.  Their first child, Suzanna, was born 6 months later.  Rumor has it Suzanna was conceived in the bushes somewhere between Stratford-Upon-Avon and Shottery, a small village to the west of Stratford where Anne's family lived.  Has Bill found that bush? (photo entry by Sarah)

Bill, Sarah, Heather and I hope you all miss us already!  We had a great time this spring!

-Claire 

Brush up on your Beatles trivia: 2 quizzes

So you think you're an expert on Beatles trivia?  Each quiz is worth tenner, going to the first person to give the right answers to Bill (don't worry, you don't have to answer both if you don't want to).

I.  Identify the song linked to the phrases below, and then, taking the first letter from each title, rearrange them to for a critical word for Scousers.

1. Paul's song about John's son
2. A home in Tuscon, Arizona
3. The Albert Hall features in this song
4. The girl was a big teaser taking the boy half-way there
5. How did she ever pay the rent?
6. Introducing Billy Shears
7. Dancing through the night with a 17 year old
8. Marshmallow pies and marmalade skies

a. What is the hidden word? 
b. What is its significance?
Email your answers to Bill if you want to win £10!

***

II. The following anagrams are portions of lines from Beatles songs.  The combination of the first letters of each unscrambled line forms something that is relevant to the Beatles.  The first correct answer emailed to Bill wins £10 (or a date with Paul McCartney if you're lucky).

1. Zenith vain he ash
2. Mediate dot junk
3. Heated nurse
4. Arched even twin

These are the real Beatles, right?

 May the best Beatles-quizzers win!
-Elsie

Sarah’s contribution to Liverpool

I am not Liverpudlian, until I worked for Ithaca I had not been to Liverpool, but there was a Liverpudlian boy in my life when I was 15. I did not go to school with him, but I met him on a week long First Aid Course on an Army base in Aldershot.  He was a nice boy with a strange accent that I hadn’t really come across before. There weren’t many Liverpudlians in Holland and for my year or so in England I hadn’t come across a real one either. I say ‘real one’ as there used to be a soap opera called ‘Brookside’ on TV that was set in Liverpool, so I was familiar with the accent.

The school I attended in England made you join the Combined Cadet Force from the ages of 14-16. You basically had a choice between joining the Army, the RAF or the Navy. My friend B promptly informed me that the Navy was the best as it was the easiest.  Seeing as I had never heard of the CCF before, I was still in shock from having to wear school uniform and call my teachers sir or miss, never mind the idea that I had to wear the Army, RAF or Navy uniform every Wednesday afternoon for 2 years of my life, I was easily persuaded. It was the best decision of my life. It turned out the RAF and Army CCF were quite hardcore. They were clearly not meant for me. I was much more comfortable in the Navy, where we occasionally had to practice how to march in rank and laughed away 2 years worth of Wednesday afternoons.  There was a serious side to it and I am quite the dab hand at tying knots!  They also made you go on a course in one of our holidays. B and I looked at our course options and quickly realised that a week long first aid course was for us.

We packed our bags and jumped on a train to the army base and this is where we met the Liverpudlian. As it turned out, there were two other boys from our school who had opted for the same course. It turned out that the two boys as well as B and myself were all Welsh...what could this say about the Welsh? All the other courses were all about the Navy and quite serious. We Welsh clearly prefer life skills and saving lives.

The first day we started with the basics, where to find the pulse. The aim was to introduce yourself to your neighbour by feeling their pulse. I was sat next to the Liverpudlian. I found myself a pulse and a new boyfriend. Sadly, throughout the week it turned out we were not meant to be. I felt we had too many differences;
• He opted to dress up in the navy uniform, I was made to.
• He was really into sailing, I wasn’t.
• He wanted to study medicine, I wanted to study fashion.
• He loved spending his summers in Southampton, I needed a map to locate Southampton.
• He had a Liverpudlian accent and I liked Scottish accents.

The Liverpudlian and I remained friends for about 2 years and he even came to visit me on his way to Southampton one summer. Just think, if it had turned out that we were meant for each other, I could be a Scouser who lives on a sail boat or in Southampton.

Liverpool is Remarkable

Yup, so remarkable that I took my wife…much to her horror: she thinks Venice is a proper setting for an anniversary weekend whereas I am more conscious of the environmental plight of the city with its overflow of tourists …to Liverpool for our wedding anniversary a few years back. Score after 1st inning: Bill 1 [for courage alone], Wife 0. No make that Bill 2, Wife 0, as my firm ‘friends of the earth’ stance deserves another point.  Of course, she got her own back by booking the most expensive hotel in town [after the Beatles themed ‘hard day’s night’ hotel] and the most expensive restaurant. Score after two innings: Bill 2, Wife 2.

But, as luck would have it, the advantage swung first her way, then mine, because the hotel, on HOPE Street, between the 2 cathedrals – a point for my wife as all marriages are ‘hopeful’ and this marriage is ‘between faiths’ as I come from a ‘Paddy’s Wigwam’ background while she has roots in sturdy establishment Protestantism [no way Venice can compete as it lacks religious diversity] - was also the location where Liverpool FC house their new signings until they get a flat or house of their own. So Rafa Benitez, now of Inter Milan, and Fernando Torres, now of Chelsea, might have stayed in our room, showered in our shower, slept in our bed.  Score after 3 innings: Bill 4, wife 3. Not to be outdone, more expensive restaurants were found [Score: Bill 4, Wife 4, Wallet minus 5], but I swiftly countered with the finest marble urinals in the world, at the Philharmonic, John Lennon’s favourite bar, where the great man no doubt sought relief on many occasions during his student days as he hardly ever went to class.  The ‘Phil’ allows escorted women to view the urinals [Bill 5, wife 4, wallet recovering as viewing the urinals is free]. Oops, I just scored an ‘own goal’ with the Phil’s marble urinals: Lennon was notoriously unfaithful to both his wives, clearly not a subject to be brought up on an anniversary weekend. Score after 4 innings: Bill 5, Wife 5.

Tension rose in the relationship as each sought the final advantage. We ferried across the Mersey and visited Port Sunlight, which didn’t change the score.  I suggested Stanley Park, she suggested Crosby Beach.  A stroll through a park [named after the same family which donated the Stanley Cup to the NHL Champions, but really to see the grounds of Liverpool FC and Everton FC which adjoin the park] or a stroll along a beach. OK, it’s August, let’s go to the beach…where 100 naked men stood staring out to sea. Final Score: Bill 5, Wife 6. Men will never win.


-Bill (Elsie is not Bill's wife)

All You Need is Liverpool

We all probably know a lot more about Liverpool than we think.  You have probably heard of Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields.  You may have also heard of Liverpudlian, Eleanor Rigby.  She was a local, so you clearly have more local knowledge than you thought you had.  The Beatles sang about what was around them.   They provided food for thought as well.  "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64?"  If you look around the London Centre, you might even find someone asking that question. 

Someone here was asking, will you still need me, will you still feed me?

You can be a Beatle, too!

In a few weeks we head for Liverpool on a trip that is pertinent to British Pop students, Sport in the UK students, British Youth Culture students, Art in London students and anyone who has ever liked the Beatles or Liverpool FC.  We will get to hear proper Scouse accents, which a few years back had a few students thinking they were hearing Swedish accents.  In fact, start training your ear now.  How much of what Liverpudlian comedian, John Bishop, is saying can you understand?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqgwO4zKKkw&feature=channel

For the art students among us, get ready for Crosby Beach!  Antony Gormley made 100 casts of his naked body which were installed in a few settings, but have settled on Crosby Beach.  Yes, this is like an ultra modern nude beach, where the statues are the naked ones.  The rest of us will probably be too chilly to strip down ourselves (this is not a challenge, just take my word for it).

Katie and Greta tried to warms up Antony in November 2009.

Keep trying to win Bill's quizzes on the trip, and I am offering a special prize to any student who bags Steven Gerrard!

-Claire