An Anglophile’s Love for London
Jul 8th, 2005 by cadmus
I put the Union Jack right in the template instead of in the posts so it stays at the top.
For today’s goose-bump moment I’m sending you to Publius Pundit – In Solidarity with Britain (HT: Instapundit). Here’s a quote:
Police officers raise a British flag in front of the State Department in Washington, D.C., Thursday, July 7, 2005, in remembrance of those killed in the London bombings. (AP Photo/Yuri Gripas)
Go look at the picture. I’ll wait.
Do you feel it? Only foreign flag and it turns out to be the Union Jack. Very cool. I’m getting goose-bumps right now.
Last night I was talking to Nemmeran about the bombings in London and mentioned the connection I and so many others felt for London, Britons and Great Britain itself.
Yes, there’s the history. The past weekend was the time to review Revolutionary War movies and literature and remember the British were the enemy you love to hate. Who can’t watch “The Patriot” and not come away wanting to whoop some Redcoat butt? But I think that the familial relationship is the best way to describe our ties with the Brits. We really are like two brothers. We have beaten up on each other from time to time with anything from knock-down-drag-outs to a few headlocks to talking smack. But we’ve stuck together. When push came to shove we had each others back. It’s that age old idea that I can say whatever I want about my family but you better not even think about it. Anybody else wants to get lippy or physical with my family will have to come through me. That’s Americans and Britons.
So for two days London has weighed heavy on me. I’ve been reading more than watching, just because the news networks have nothing but “experts” spewing their tripe and I want to hear from Londoners. Thank God for the blogosphere. The phrase “Stiff upper lip” is so true. Londoners are so tough. So much of the reaction has been sadness for the carnage and deaths but with one voice they are saying, “Bug off” to the terrorists. I’m inspired by the calm eloquence of the London voices and how they can react with anger, determination, resilience and toughness but with such class.
The song “Panic” by The Smiths has been stuck in my head since this started. Not that it actually has anything to do with the London reaction. Quite the contrary, it is what did not happen in London. It’s just that London is in the first line of the song and the chorus is silly and addictive:
Panic on the streets of London
Panic on the streets of Birmingham
I wonder to myself
Could life ever be sane again ?
The Leeds side-streets that you slip down
I wonder to myself
Hopes may rise on the Grasmere
But Honey Pie, you’re not safe here
So you run down
To the safety of the town
But there’s Panic on the streets of Carlisle
Dublin, Dundee, Humberside
I wonder to myselfBurn down the disco
Hang the blessed DJ
Because the music that they constantly play
IT SAYS NOTHING TO ME ABOUT MY LIFE
Hang the blessed DJ
Because the music they constantly playOn the Leeds side-streets that you slip down
Provincial towns you jog ’round
Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ
Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ
HANG THE DJ, HANG THE DJ, HANG THE DJ
HANG THE DJ, HANG THE DJ
HANG THE DJ, HANG THE DJ
Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ
HANG THE DJ, HANG THE DJ
HANG THE DJ, HANG THE DJ
Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ
HANG THE DJ, HANG THE DJ
HANG THE DJ, HANG THE DJ
Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ, Hang the DJ
HANG THE DJ
Since my conversation with Nemmeran, where I wondered why I feel connected to the Brits and attributed it to growing up on Monty Python, Benny Hill, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and most definitely Doctor Who; I’ve been thinking about everything Great Britain has brought us.
Here’s a short list of my favorites:
Monty Python
Benny Hill
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (TV series)
Doctor Who
James Bond
Dozens of British bands starting with the Beatles
British cars (Aston Martin HELLO!)
So many British authors (J. K. Rowling back to Chaucer)
Winston Churchill
Margaret Thatcher
The Harrier
Showing me the location of the Falklands (and how cool the Harrier is)
So many movies
King Arthur
The Magna Carta
Along this line of thought I came across this today:
(WARNING!!! R-RATED LINK.)it comes in pints?: For Our British Friends.
Such a great post. Reading through the comments and and the things people added put a smile on my face. Good stuff.
Notice the name of the blog and it’s URL. That alone made me laugh. Now I keep saying it to myself like it’s said in the film.
HT: Vodkapundit – South Park Brits?/Pardon the Language
I know the Britons will weather this. History shows us that.
There’s a reason it’s not just Britain but Great Britain.
