Breaking News: UK lifts ban on royals marrying Catholics.

Time for me to start hanging out at royal singles events!

The NFL at Wembley Stadium

Last night I went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers/Chicago Bears NFL game played at Wembley Stadium in London.  A few notes:

• I lived in Tampa, FL from 1995 - 2005, and for eight of those years had season tickets for the Bucs.  Though I since moved to Philadelphia, I will always have a fondness for the Buccaneers.  I wore an old Buccaneers jersey #47, John Lynch.
• I went with my friend Mark, who is a Brit who spent a few years in Tampa, and Mark and I went to Bucs games together in Tampa, so don't tell me there's no such thing as karma.
• Wembley Stadium is terrific.  It's full capacity is something like 90,000, though there were 'only' 78,000 at the game last night.  It's spacious and clean, hardly any queueing necessary (except for the cash machine).
• At most British sporting events you are not permitted to eat or drink at your seat (seriously).  This rule is suspended for NFL games.
• Brits and Americans show up at the game wearing the jersey of their favorite NFL teams, not just those playing.  I've never seen such a variety of jerseys, hats, and t-shirts.  Most popular?  Definitely the New England Patriots.
• Some UK folks are quite devoted NFL fans.  On the subway ride home from the game, I chatted with a young Irish fellow who had been a serious Bucs fan for much longer than I ever was.
• Trying to explain American football to someone who is not famliar with it (Mark's son Josh was with us) reminds you how amusingly arbitrary the rules of most sports are. "So if the kickoff goes out of bounds, why don't they put the ball where it went out of bounds?" "Because they put it 30 yards from where it was kicked." "Why?" "Beats me."
• Sharpest observation from Josh: "I can't believe how many players run on and off the field every two minutes."
• Before the game, both "The Star Spangled Banner" and "God Save the Queen" were played.  One difference between American and British sporting events is that they don't normally play the national anthem (any national anthem) before the game starts.  Another difference:  when "God Save the Queen" is played, everyone sings.  78,000 people singing it together is memorable.
• There was a squirrel on the field for much of the first quarter.  No one on the field paid any attention to it (luckily, it was far from the action).  This prompted chants rooting for the squirrel ("first down, squirrel!")
• The people sitting behind us were speaking mostly in German (I think).  So for much of the game I heard "blah blah blah holding....blah blah blah linebacker...blah blah blah why do you throw for four yards when it's third and 15?"
• 70,000 people exiting a game and heading to one subway station sounds like a bad idea.  Given the Brits' skill at crowd control, and their general passivity for queueing, this was no problem at all.
• Earlier in the day, we watched on TV as Manchester City beat Manchester United 6 - 1 at Man. U's home stadium.  Not exactly David beating Goliath, but close to it.  The last time City beat United by that much was 1926.  As Mark is a passionate City fan, this was a historic win for him.  (Footnote:  the Glazer family, who own the Buccaneers, also own Man. United).
• The Bucs need to be more consistent on defense!  They lost after a fierce 4th-quarter rally.

Why Monster Truck Rallies are not popular in Britain

In almost six months here, I have not seen one ad for a monster truck rally.
Discuss:

Hypothesis 1:  Fuel is very expensive here, about $8 per gallon.  Sports that waste fuel are not economically feasible.

Contradiction:  Motor sports are much more popular here than in the US (the exception being NASCAR, which is understandable because rednecks turning left for eight hours is not a sport).  They have motorcycle races in places called "The Isle of Man" (sounds like a euphemism for a bald spot), and car rallies that last longer than cricket matches.

Hypothesis 2:  In Britain, trucks are called "lorries", and "monster lorry" just doesn't sound exciting.

Contradiction:  Pass

Hypothesis 3:  TV and radio ads for monster truck rallies require a voiceover track that Brits just can't pull off.

American version:  " Race Fans!! (race fans....race fans....race fans).  This Friday at the COOOOWWW PALACE, the BIGGGGGESSST monster truck show since last month!!!!  See BIGFOOOOOT jump 20 VW beetles!  See Graaaaavedigerrrr destroy a 1967 Chevy Impala!!!  If it's too LOOOOUD, you're too OOOOLD!!!!! (discount tickets available at your local Safeway)"

UK version:  "Motor sporting enthusiasts!  If your diary is not otherwise booked, we invite you to the Princess of Wales Family Fun Centre in Wembley Crossing for a lorry fayre!  See elaborately-decorated lorries with comical names overcome large pointless obstacles!  Watch them spew jets of flaming gas, and emit sparks in copious quantities!  Persons with acute hearing are cautioned."

New London Theatre: War Horse

The dramatic play "War Horse" has won bucketfulls of awards and has made troughs of money. The reviews have generally been stellar; my brother even recommends it.   So, it was with high expectations that I went to see "War Horse" at the New London Theatre, on Drury Lane.

First let it be said that the puppetry of the horses is remarkable.  Each horse is operated by three puppeteers, who are always visible but never noticeable.  The inspired element of the design is the ears, which express the horse's inner thoughts (sort of -- what puppetry really shows us is the power of the human imagination to ascribe meaning to the movement of wood, fabric, and metal).  The scene-stealer is the goose, which is pushed along on a stick like a children's toy, and gets all of the good physical comedy bits.

The cast is game enough, and works with the puppets and the large stage with confidence.  But, by the second act, it becomes all too apparent that the story is a gallop of melodramatic cliches.  The play then alternates from loud-and-blinding-isn't-war-horrible (odd it never occurred to anyone to write a play about that before) to long stretches of dialogue in French and German (oooh, how sophisticated) that keep the horses in the background (big mistake). And just when things aren't tedious enough, we introduce the Little Girl Who Loves the Horse and Yells a Lot.  Now I understand why British theatres let you bring drinks to your seat.

Steven Spielberg's film version is scheduled for release in the USA in time for Christmas 2011.  Instead of the puppets, the film will use real horses.  Expect lots of CGI, and it's hard to imagine "War Horse" working without the puppets.  But, I'm not one to underestimate Steven Spielberg, plus the cast includes Emily Watson, who is the Best Actress Ever (if you haven't seen the film "Breaking the Waves", see it, and prepare to be shattered).

Worth seeing?  Yes, because the puppetry is unprecedented and thrilling; but leave at the interval and spare yourself the noise.

Bach St Matthew Passion at the National Theatre

The Bach "St Matthew Passion" is one of those pieces of classical music that I've always heard about, but never heard.  It's regarded as one of the greatest pieces of sacred music ever written.  On Friday (30 Sept 2011), the National Theatre presented the version of the St Matthew created by the great British director, Jonathan Miller.  In Miller's staging, the orchestra sits in a circle, with the players and the singers in casual dress.  Throughout the piece, the singers and orchestra interact with each other.  It's staged to be performed in a theatre-in-the-round, but since the National is not set up that way, they put about 100 seats on the back of the stage, behind the performers.  I was lucky enough to get a stage seat, and my seat was at the dead-center of the stage.  For 12 GBP, it was an experience I will never forget.

One weird moment was when I realised that a major theme of the piece, "Oh Sacred Head Sore Wounded" was used by Simon and Garfunkel as the melody to "An American Song." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UasmivVYfPA

Another priceless London experience.

Tony Bennett Live

Last night I saw Tony Bennett perform live at the Palladium Theatre in London.  It was a special one-night-only gig to celebrate his 85th birthday. The old man still can swing it, and the crowd went nuts after every song.  Just to prove he still has the pipes, he sang the last song without a microphone.  In a 2,300 seat venue.  Bennett has more class in his sideburns than everyone in the Billboard Top 10 combined -- except for #1, who is Bennett himself!