The Hooter

Cambridge...a lot happened there in the last 1000 years, but there isn't a lot to do there in the few hours of free time one might have when you take a daytrip there. I took the majority of my pictures of the buildings. Some of them King's College Chapel, the State House, and a church that was built in 1025 before the Norman Invasion of this wee island. I did see the punts on the Cam, but I didn't go punting on the Cam. It was too darn cold so I just walked along the river. That was cold too...

You know how Americans call the horn at the end of a sporting event or period the 'horn' or the 'buzzer'? Well the Brits, at least some of them, call it the 'hooter'. I heard one of the commentators on the BBC's coverage of the Olympics say "hooter" last night and I had a hearty chuckle. They also say 'vitamins' with a short 'i' in 'vit', like 'vittamins'. I would spell it phonetically for you but I am not good at that. I hope I am explaining this well enough. One last word before moving on, 'renaissance'. They say "Renee" as in Renee Zellwegger, followed by 'sance' as we would normally pronounce it in America. Now, I really don't care which pronounciation is correct, I am simply noticing the differcences between them, and how I find them goofy.

There are a lot of Kentucky Fried Chickens over here, and naturally you have your rip-offs. However, London has many, many rip-offs of the famous chain. I think you could substitute any word starting with a 'K' for 'Kentucky' and that would be an actual restaurant somewhere in London. Examples include Kansas Fried Chicken, Kabal Fried Chicken, and others that are changed up a bit like Perfect Fried Chicken, or London Fried Chicken. Certainly one of the biggest legacies American consumerism/materialism has left on at least this part of the world is the 'brand name'. It sells a lot over here, even if the chicken is fried in Kansas, and not in Kentucky. I haven't been anywhere else yet, but as I do get to see other parts of the world throughout my life I wouldn't be surprised to encounter other variations of a famous American brand.

I aim to not take any part of the British accent home with me. I don't like the sound of it really. The accent gives a flair of femininity to men, but this is not as disturbing as the solid dose of masculinity it gives to women. There are quite a few good-looking women in England and then I hear them speak, "Good God, what is that sound?" I make camp in the land of the American accent and of better teeth.