BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Celebrating 50 years of Britain in Los Angeles

http://www.britweek.org/index.shtml

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Oh I met that bloke a few weeks ago at the consulate.

Looks interesting.

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Seems Brit week is 5 weeks lomg

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Yes...well-spotted.

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

hahahaha... I put the wrong year on our wedding invitations.

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Thanks for posting the link Ray. It's intriguing how the UK is being marketed with this event. The welcome video http://www.britweek.org/video.shtml touts AEG's transformation of the millenium dome into the most successful indoor arena in the world. After over a decade of bad press I rather doubted this until I saw this Telegraph article http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/mai.../cndome115.xml
Good for the new owners perhaps but it was still a bad idea and huge waste of British taxpayers money and it beggars belief that they're repeating history on an even large scale with the 2012 olympics.

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Britain's in LA?

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Great choice of venue - LA :zzz:
Why not Boston or somewhere else on the East coast that was actually founded by us?

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Because if you read the link you'll see Britain is a major investor in CA. Also probably the State with the most Brit expats................... and Boston and NYC are full of pseudo-micks :lol:

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

LA is legoland - a plastic city.
At least Boston and NYC have their own personality.
And seasons. :p

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Yes it's horrible here. I've just got in after playing soccer this morning with a bunch of South Americans. I drove up PCH in my convertible this morning and looked at the dolphins and surfers in the Pacific Ocean just down from Malibu after my game.
I am now typing this 1/4 of a mile from white sandy beaches in the comfort of mid 70's temps. Terrible place, absolutely awful. I don't recommend it to you at all. Not sure why the British consulate would choose such a stupid venue to hold a mini festival :rolleyes:

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

I think I could be quite happy where you live apart from the cost of housing.

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Don't give him any ammo ;)

It's coming down and I'm hoping ............. one day soon. I've been saving my pennies :sneaky:

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

You can get most British food stuff's and frequent British Pub's, nice weather and not far from the beach, oh sod the cost of housing I want to live there :cry_smile:

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

I'm going for a visit there next week......:thumbsup:

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Load up the old woody, put the surfboard on the roof rack and jump on the I-10. Keep driving until you see the Pacific. You'll always get a job here.

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Your round at Ye Olde King's Head :sneaky:

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

I wish :)

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Maybe.....but I don't think we will be in Santa Monica this time. Our girly has moved;)

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Lucky you, are you driving round posing on your Bikes ;) I bloody well would if I had one :thumbup:

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

No, we don't have enough time to ride there from Texas and have time to spend with our daughter so we are flying out. The old man would love to ride that far, so maybe one day:thumbup:


I do love to visit though, just wish we were younger then we would up-sticks and move but we have to be a little bit sensible now and think about work and pensions etc so we make do with our little trips each year instead.

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Well that's cool you get to go each year, enjoy dear Lady and dont forget the photo's :)

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

I wouldn't say no to a move to the west coast.

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

That's a no then. I know you'll be too busy hanging out with the Harley crowd and I'm not cool enough.
If you ever do come on your bikes you should check out Neptune's Net on PCH past Malibu near Ventura. Always loads of bikers there

http://www.neptunesnetseafood.com/?11dd9ac0

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1232/...e83b9b.jpg?v=0

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

I'd be quite happy to just live in your pool house then, have a word with your OH :)

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

By the way this is not the first time something like this has been done in LA. Back in 1988 The Duke and Duchess of York ( Andy and Fergie) opened UK/LA. In my office I actually have a framed poster from the event, which is a collage of famous LA and UK landmarks, given to me by a good friend who passed away last year

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...50C0A96E948260

Showing my age here as it's 20 years ago. I was young and fresh in LA :(

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

HARLEY crowd:eek::eek: You have to be joking, our bike is a real bike not a posers bike I'll have you know.:frown:



:rofl:

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

I was thinking that being as your OH is an Englishman :thumbup:

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Well, it sounds like it suits you just fine then.

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

All I know is I hate the noisy ones. I'm usually driving along in my convertible enjoying the sun and a few tunes................... then some fat bastards come along with super loud mufflers on their bikes that are just obnoxiously loud. WTF is that all about, it would drive me mad to be on something that loud for a long drive :confused:

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

I wouldn't say that either :lol:

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Its a friggin loony bin on wheels and thats the God's honest truth.

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Some people hate the circus, others like me ran away and joined the circus :lol:

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

:eek:
:blink:
:D
:)

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Not all a bed of roses though. Wild-fires, mudslides, earthquakes, smog, gangs, concrete freeways, no real countryside, no historical culture, polluted cold sea, and very expensive. Some people don't mind this, other do. Nice weather and friendly people though.

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

Yeah life is not all a bed of roses either. As far as the points you raised some have some basis others really don't

Wildfires and mudslides - Sure, if you are fortunate enough to live in Malibu and a few other areas. These affect a relatively small section of the population.

Earthquakes - One of any significance in 21 years ( 1994)

Smog - Yep, the air is unhealthy. But so was London's until fairly recently, hence the term pea-souper. Probably still a lot better than Beijing or Mexico City

Gangs - Mostly gang on gang over drug turf apart from the occasional drive-by.

No historical culture - Various museums where various European, Asian and South American culture is on display. i.e The Getty, LACMA, Armand Hammer. Art Deco buildings in downtown. Numerous movie and entertainment cultural sites of significance. Obviously not as far back as European history for obvious reasons.

Freeways - That's a good thing to get around Los Angeles.

No real countryside - You've got to be kidding. Numerous State parks, canyons, mountains and lakes. Or do you mean green fields with sheep and cows? This is So Cal not England. I play soccer here every Saturday, a 15 minute drive away. Surrounded by horses, hiking trails, coyotes and history ( American)
http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=626

Polluted cold sea - Again compared to where? A short boat ride to Catalina Island only 20 odd miles away has some great clear waters for fishing and scuba diving.

Very expensive - Housing yes. But entertainment, driving, electrical goods and eating out is very affordable compared to income.

Have to disagree about many of the people. Phony, shallow and superficial for the most part.

As you say not all a bed of roses or everyone's cup of tea. But then you have me at a disadvantage as I have no idea where you live and/or prefer ?!

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

TBH now matter where you live in the US...it's swings and roundabouts. There's good and bad, good and not as good.

I don't know you...only snippets from what you've said on BE. IMO you live in one of the most idyllic places in US...you have two beautiful boys and a lovely partner...but I sense there is something missing. You could more or less say the same about me. I call it the 'curse of the expats'...no matter how happy you are...what you've achieved...you want something that the US can't offer for your children and yourself.

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

There is no right or wrong answer, different strokes, horses for courses and all those other cliches.
I' ve been quite open on this forum, there's things that I like and dislike about both the US ( or where I live) and the UK. I like where I live but miss the sense of humor, familiarity and lately family since I have 3 sisters, a large extended family and aging parents that will not be around forever. Problem is I have been in the US half my life now ( all my adult working life) and I feel like I don't really fit 100% into either place or culture.
That's the price you pay as a long term immigrant ................. or oddball weirdo :lol:

Re: BritWeek 2008 in CA
 

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