Some of us Berliners out there know the deal – Either you are a Hertha BSC promoter, or you root for Union Berlin. You can’t do both. Some are clever, though slightly traitory and choose to support Bayern Munich instead of settling for a bad 1st leaguist / a good 2nd leaguist.

Berlin is not the only city with a divided football fan-community. On rare occasions, the Glasgow Celtics play the Glasgow Rangers, and a couple of weeks back I witnessed Manchester United playing against Manchester City.

What leads to a creation of two teams for one city? And what makes us decide who to promote? I asked around in the local Irish Pub and in my friend circle, and did a bit of about the four British teams.

Enjoy!

I asked a couple of regulars at the Pub, and it really didn’t matter where they were from, it seemed almost random, whether I asked the Irish Joe who supports Manchester United or English Michael who is a City-fan. The most common explanation was that the devotion to their team relied on tradition. Either their fathers or their entire family took them to the games to support the same club throughout the years.

There is a different story when it comes to Scottish football and the “Old Firm” rivalry which consists of the Glasgow Rangers and the Glasgow Celtics. This rivalry originates in religion more than anything else: Most of the supporters for the Rangers were Protestant, whereas a major part of Celtics Fans were Irish and Catholic. The two clubs are among the biggest in the UK, and the rivalry is an especially ferocious one. Violent disputes between fans are notorious, as are the sectarian songs and insults sang and shouted at the games. However, lately the UEFA has made some effort to discourage sectarianism among the fans and were largely supported by the clubs themselves.

If you are interested in the history of the clubs and the rivalry among the fans, check out this website.

Compared to the Old Firm rivalry, the feude between Manchester United and Manchester City seems almost trivial.

The games between the two clubs are called Manchester Derbies. The most aggressive rivalries between the two teams (not neccessarily the fans of the teams!) took place in the 1970s, especially after a game in December 1970: a tackle by United’s George Best broke the leg of Glyn Pardoe, which almost led to the amputation of the leg.

Many say, that the relationship between Berlin’s Hertha and Union clubs are based on healthy competition and not on rivalry. Unfortunately, the latest news depict a more aggressive image. Especially considering the fact, that there once was a real fanfriendship among the supporters, it is sad to follow the way in which the relationship developed.

Whome of you, who love House M.D., did not know that Hugh Laurie is actually British? He was born in Oxford, and has been acting with an American accent for 6 seasons now. The fact that he managed to fool a lot of people with his fake accent is pretty impressive to me. But is he the only one who has been tricking us? Are there others like him?

I did some research and found out, that not only is there a huge percentage of British (and Australian) actors participating in American TV shows lately, but also that many of them are playing Americans, mostly to fit the storyline.

Are they as convincing in their performance as Hugh Laurie? And does it work the other way around as well – American actors pretending to be British?

All this and much more about fake accents and on fake fake accents…

Brits doing American accents

While Hugh Laurie may be the most well-known example of a British actor faking the American accent, there is another actor, omnipresent in the media: Robert Pattinson, born in London, became famous through his lead role in the Twilight Saga as vampire Edward Cullen. Before that, he was also seen in the Harry Potter movies, where he talked in his natural British accent.

For the brilliant movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Kate Winslet, born in Reading, England, played an American as well. Orlando Bloom, originally from Caterbury, England and normally notoriously reluctant to give up his British accent, faked the American accent quite successfully in Elizabethtown.

Another very good example is the beautiful, brilliant Claire Forlani. Born in Twickenham, England, she is probably best known from her role in Meet Joe Black with Brad Pitt. In a very old interview from 2000, she talks about her new, fake accent in her lovely British accent, which suits her much better in my opinion.

Three more or less well known examples include Christian Bale from Harverfordwest, Wales as Batman in the Dark Knight, and Scottish actor James McAvoy in Wanted. Also, Joseph Fieness, born in Salisbury, England, among others well known from his role in Shakespeare in Love, plays Mark Benford, an American, on the Tv-Show FlashFordward.

The other way around

Although there has been an increase in the share of British actors participating in American Tv-Shows and movies, there are plenty of examples of American actors who played British roles in a number of movies:

For the Tv-Show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, James Marsters acts through 6 seasons with a fake British accent as Spike or William the Bloddy, a vampire from London. He does an exceptionally good job, especially when he does a fake fake American accent in one episode.

One of the most famous examples is Renée Zellweger as Bridget Jones in Bridget Jones’ Diary, a very British movie, based on a very British book by Helen Fieldling. David Anders from the popular TvShow Heroes portraits English Adam Monroe.

Superstar Brad Pitt plays a very entertaining Irish pikey in Snatch. Click here for a video with his funniest scenes, it is very hard to understand what he is trying to say though!

Gwyneth Paltrow does an incredibly good job as Viola de Lesseps in Shakespeare in Love.

Fake fake accents

The aforementioned fake fake American accent in Buffy the Vampire Slayer by James Marsters is a good example, but there are others. In one Episode on House M.D., Hugh Lauries as Gregory House makes a call at 3 in the morning and pretends to be calling from England without realising the time difference. Interestingly, Laurie does not use his normal speaking accent, but a very strong fake British accent. On Ellen’s show, he plays a quiz about the British and the American slang, you should watch it, it’s quite funny!

If you can think of another example of very convincing (or very bad) fake or fake fake accents, go ahead and post a comment!

Is it really a Scottish tradition – Or is the Irish claim of having invented it based on facts?

Are they wearing something under their kilts and – if not – why are they not freezing?!

Is there a simpler way of looking Scottish – for example at the beach? … You’ll see where I am going with this !

These and more questions will be answered by the help of Matthew A. Newsome and the facts I found on his website.

Irish or Scottish tradition?

The common consensus is, that the kilt is a Scottish tradition. However, there are still some who desperately defend their opinion that the Irish first introduced the Kilt. This commonly spread mistake can be proven wrong by investigating old pictures and drawings and research about ancient Irish dresses. The confusion derives from the fact that the Irish wore a leine, or Irish tunic, which also reaches the knees.

The kilt actually became common during the late 16th century in the Scottish highlands, i.e. the northwest of Scotland. Back then, it was actually several layers of plaid with a belt around it – a belted plaid.

The tartan pattern was widely common in the 16th century, and the plaids which the kilts were made from had a variety of patterns. They were not related to any specific clans yet, but rather dependend on the material available to the weavers and on the wealth of the purchaser. The relation between clans and setts (tartans) only got established in the 19th century. Today, there are also specific tartans for regions, cities and even universities.

The decision whether to wear underwear or not is entirely up to the wearer of the kilt himself. There have been military regulations though, and some say that a “true Scotsman” does not wear anything under his kilt. Since a kilt has several layers, there are no health issues to be concerned about. Everything should be warm enough at any weather!

The Insta-Kilt

This is my favourite part: A new invention for the beach and anywhere else, which gives you the opportunity to dress up in a kilt without the complicated needles and wrappings in seconds! The insta-kilt is a beach towel with a tartan pattern and a sporran! You can purchase them on ebay and other shops.

Be careful though! It might not provide as much protection against the weather as a real kilt!

It seems like the casting, reality, activity, dating and pimp-up-my-whatever shows just won’t stop coming out of nowhere and producing the idea that if you just get on TV, your fifteen minutes might turn into long-term success. Because it worked so well for Alexander, Elli, Thomas Godoj and Tobias Regner.

Not just one but several friends of mine who went home over the holidays (home being Norwich, Leeds and Durham) came back in a BigBrother / Celebrity Big Brother shock. They were amazed at how many of their adult friends follow the show with passion. The “news”paper The Daily Star is the official Big Brother paper, with its front page featuring a half-naked picture of Jordan (who is not even from Big Brother UK, but the US version!) almost every single day.

Most of the people who participate in Big Brother are anything but ordinary – most of them are plastics, lesbians, models or low list actors. Otherwise I might have suggested that the recent obsession with reality Television series derived from the success of an “average” contestant winning over the jury after being laughed and booed at. Anyone who missed it, I highly recommend watching her first audition. If that doesn’t turn on the pipes, I don’t know what will.

Amanda Holden called it a wake up call. I think she’s right. These shows help people with real talent share it with the world. But at the same time, the other shows are a huge waste of time… Do you agree?

As you might expect, this urge, though not legally binding, provoked a massive amount of replies, both from the Israeli government and from consumers who want to boycott products from those territories. Interestingly, this idea is not new: It has actually been in development for over a year – in this article from December 2008, the author reports on the intention of the British government to label products and the fury of the Israeli government it caused as well as henceforth created tension between the two countries.

Even though the U.K. government insists  that this was not a call for boycott of Israeli products but rather an attempt to increase transparency for concerned consumers, the Israeli government is furious, and so are its supporters. For many, it is the first sign of a boycott to come and even discrimination against Israeli products.

In my opinion, the voluntary labeling of goods from the West Bank according to their producers has been long due. It is a big help for consumers who do not want to support settlements in the West Bank and hopefully it will increase awareness of the persisting situation.

I am keen to learn about your point of view!

Regards,

Katrin

I was surprised to find out though, that the 6th of December is just another day (unless it’s a Sunday in Advent) and that the tradition of leaving your boots outside is pretty much non-existent in England, Scotland and Ireland (I asked my regular guests and my colleagues at the Irish Pub).

So I decided to do some research and find out which traditions are common in the UK and in Germany and which are exclusively celebrated in the UK.

As I already said, St. Nicholas Day is not celebrated in the UK as it’s used to in Germany. For those who do not know what the story in Germany is, let me give you a quick summary:

In Germany, the kids clean their boots on the evening of December 5th and leave them outside their doors or outside their house. If they were nice, St. Nicholas (or “Der heilige Nikolaus”) comes and fills their boots with sweets and / or little toys. If they were naughty, Servant Ruprecht (or “Knecht Ruprecht”) comes and well, he would beat them or threaten to beat them, but it never happens. It never did in my house anyways

As it is the case with most legends, fairy tales and customs, the stories between Saint Nicholas vary. Common ground is the fact that he actually did exist, so all the legends revolve around a real person. The most commonly known story is the one about a poor man who is on the verge of selling his three daughter into slavery (or prostitution, stories may vary). The night before he is about to sell them away, St. Nicholas comes by and leaves a golden coin for each daughter in their shoes / throws them through the open window. The daughters are saved from a life in slavery.

This version of the legend explains the tradition of leaving shoes out and why we sometimes leave chocolate coins for the kids.

Because of this story and a lot of other good deeds, Saint Nicholas has always been one of the most popular, worshipped saints in catholic countries. One can still find a lot of churches built in his name today.

He is also the base on which the popular Santa Clause has been based. Just look at the name: Santa comes from Saint, and Clause is a short version of Nicholas.

Whatever the name may be – I hope one of the guys left something in your boots, and you had a nice Nikolaustag with your family!
Happy Holidays!

Ah, well, the Scots. I’ve met a lot of lovely, friendly Scots in “my old days” working at the Irish Pub, and I don’t have anything bad to say about them – EXCEPT that most of the time I have a pretty hard time understanding a word they’re saying! I’ve been watching a lot of stand up by Billy Connolly, who once  argued that people have a bad image of Scotland because their national anthem is so boring (watch video here). To see why you should go to Scotland (and take an umbrella), click here.

Some of the most common known stereotypes about the Scottish are that they’re heavy drinkers, easily to be outraged and very, very proud… A typical clichée is also that they are very good at golf, and run around in kilts all day without underwear. To read more about kilts, read the other post: Kilts 4 u

Today is not supposed to be another “Funny Sunday”. Instead, this post marks the start of the dealing with stereotypes, accents and peculiarities of the English, Welsh and Scottish. I know this Joke is about an Irishman and Ireland does not belong to the UK, but I hope you forgive me that technicality!

A quick update concerning stereotypes: This video deals with Swedish and English Nightclubs. Of course, it’s a little exaggerated, but it’s supposed to be funny. Enjoy!

British humour is not for everybody. It sure does make fun of everybody though!

Let’s start with the most important meal o’ the day: Breakfast!

The proper british breakfast consists of a few very hearty incgredients: Bacon, Baked Beans, Sausage or “bangers”, tomatoes, fried eggs and buttered toast. If you want it to be a real, full breakfast you can add black / and white pudding. I personally can live without the pudding, but bangers and bacon are a must-have! Have an English tea (Cylon) and an orange juice and the day can begin! Make sure you get the bacon really crispy, almost cremated. Some people like hash browns with their breakfast although that is a little amerikanised. The Welsh cuisine includes more seafruit, so a Welsh breakfast is served with cockles and laverbread of a kind of seaweed. I never tried it, since I’m not a big fan of seafruit. Especially not in the morning..

Here‘s a link to a very, very full English breakfast (including hash browns, mushrooms and black pudding).

What’s for dinner?

If you are still hungry after a full breakfast, there’s a couple of lovely dishes I can recommend.

I feel obligated to mention fish ‘n’ chips, but there is not really that much to it is there? Except for one piece of advice: Have it in London !

Pie for dinner…

This does not have anything to do with Bridget Jones. Pies in England are traditionally made with meat, for example the Shepherd’s Pie – lamb – or the cottage pie – beef. Those two pies are made in a casserole with mashed potatoes on top and vegetables (carrots and peas) in the meat or on the side. Don’t forget the gravy!

This recipe does not include peas and carrots but tomatoes. You can’t have pie without decent gravy.
Shepherd’s Pie is not difficult to make on your own – as opposed to the delicious delight that is the following recommendation:

The Sunday Roast

Traditionally, the big roast dinner was reserved for Sundays, the day of rest. Not for the housewives it wasn’t! A Sunday roast can take hours, so it’s the perfect dish for the next big occasion. Christmas is coming up…

The way I know it, the roast is served with roast potatoes and/or mashed potatoes, peas and honey-carrots on the side and (can you guess??) gravy. If you want to use stuffing or not, that’s entirely up to you. I did a little research and found a traditional British stuffed turkey recipe with cranberries and chestnuts.

My favourite part – Desert

Apple Crumble

Actually, you can make a crumble with basically any fruit you like. The traditional British crumble is made with apples and custard (liquid vanilla pudding, more or less).

Banoffee Pie

If you decide to do it properly, Banoffee (Banana + Toffee) Pie can be a lot of work since the condensed milk has to be cooked and not burnt. Instructions will follow as soon as I get a hold of my former colleage who made lovely banoffee pie !