Dan's Wild Wild Science Journal

For those of you who read this journal from outside the USA (and thank you by the way!), you will pardon me while I explain to the rest who Stephen Fry is.

In a world where most famous movie stars, and sports celebrities have an education level that is sadly lacking, it is refreshing to have a famous actor/comedian/writer/game show host, who is just the opposite! If you check out my Facebook  profile, you will see that under religious preference I put Stephen Fry!

Mr. Fry is not an easy person to describe. If you have ever watched Black Adder on PBS or BBC America, you have seen him. He is well known in the UK, and in Australia and Canada. While he is an excellent actor, and comedian, he is also a graduate of Cambridge. (Not that the two should be mutually exclusive!) He has a vocabulary to die for! His quiz show QI on BBC 1 is highly rated, and his dramatic series KINGDOM is rapidly becoming a classic.

However, what I like most about Stephen Fry is his relationship with his fans. He has a fabulous web site and is an avowed tech lover.

He of course uses a Mac! He has a bunch of them I understand!

I check out his podgrams and twitter page frequently.  I almost always learn something interesting when I do. Other than being a rabid Doctor Who fan , I really watch little TV.  Mr. Fry is an exception. (David Tennant: Just another year…please? The new guy doesn’t even have eye brows!)

My literary education has always been sorely lacking, and thanks to Stephen Fry, I am enjoying Oscar Wilde immensely. So, if you’re going to be a fan of someone, then a thoroughly decent and intelligent person like Fry is not a bad choice I think.

One last thing here. In one of his recent podgrams, Mr. Fry talks about the BBC, and a proposal to give some of the money from the lic. fee to Channel 4. He argues that this would be a mistake.  He is absolutely right.

You folks in the UK do not understand what a truly national asset you have in the BBC.

QUIT TRYING TO KILL IT!

Thus ends the promised tongue lashing to you UK folks, that I mentioned in a previous post. I did warn you it was coming. You may return to the Archers now;).

While nearly every major  national, and international broadcaster has cut it’s staff of foreign corespondents back to nil, the BBC still covers the world.

They do it with a level of impartiality that is still the gold standard.

(For those that do not know: In the UK to watch TV, you have to buy a yearly license. No, I am not kidding. It costs about 130£. That money goes to the BBC to produce radio and TV programs. The BBC has no commercials. Think of PBS with money.)

All the tax money given to the Foreign Office to promote British values and culture, is peanuts, compared to what the BBC brings the UK just by being there. No, they are not perfect. However, the frequent claims of waste and inefficiency get nowhere with me. I have been to the Broadcast Centre in London, and have seen how they do things. Having worked in Broadcasting for 30 years, I can tell you that they are more efficient than American broadcasters by a mile!

For those in the UK: Yes, they do pay Jonathan Ross too much money, but they should give Stephen Fry a raise. So, perhaps it all balances out. Just think of the tax money you’re giving to Peter Mandelson. I rest my case.

If you want to hear an impassioned plea, by someone who knows how to use the English language properly, then listen to Stephen Fry’s podgram about it. You can find it on iTunes by searching for “Stephen Fry Podgram Episode 4 Broadcasting”. The podgrams are free.

From now on, I plan on using a new word I learned from watching,listening or reading Fry in each of my blogs. I really must improve my vocabulary! I will however promise to expatiate less in my next post! I have a twitter page myself now at http://twitter.com/danwhnt

Later,
Dan

I have taken a break from things for the last two weeks. Most of that time I spent in the United Kingdom. Anyone who knows me doesn’t have to ask what my favorite city is.

They already know it’s London.

In the cult classic movie 84 Charing Cross Road, there is a line that says something along the lines of “people go to London looking for different things”.

Some go looking for the London of great literature, the London of Charles Dickens or Samuel Pepys. There is the London of Sherlock Holmes, and Queen Victoria, Perhaps they go looking for the London of Beatles fame, or chic “Cool Britannia”.”

I took a stroll Thursday night, from Waterloo Underground (Near the London Eye and Big Ben across the river) all the way down to the Millennium Bridge. I then stared across the river with Christopher Wren’s masterpiece St. Paul’s looming high in the twilight across the Thames. During the dark days of the blitz, Churchill ordered St. Paul’s protected at all cost. If it burned, many thought London might as well.

While walking, I heard no less than 4 languages besides English.

London is truly the crossroads of the World.

My wife says I should do a web page for those visiting London for the first time.

It can be daunting navigating any city of 7+ million. Add to this the language barrier. Churchill was right that the USA, and UK are two people only separated by a common language. I can tell some funny stories about learning the British definitions of subway, central reservation, and pram.

London is very expensive. Especially now that those of us coming from the sates are converting a third world currency. It takes $1.70 to buy one British pound (£). A good cheap hotel room will cost you around 100£ per night so you can do the math.

If you want to stay at the County Hall Marriott overlooking Big Ben, and the Houses of Parliament, that will set you back 300 quid a night (£). The back side of the same building houses the Premier travel Inn at 90£ per night, and while you will not look out at Big Ben, your gonna save a lot of money and believe me that is where the British people who are visiting their capital on business or pleasure are staying!

Walking along the South Bank, or across St’ James’s Park on a sparkling Autumn evening is pure heaven to me. St. James’s Park has been a park for over 400 years. I was very conscious of the fact that I was enjoying the soft Autumn sunshine, and cool breezes like so many, many generations of people before me. Some great, and famous, but most long lost to history, as I shall one day be.

If you think a 140$ per night hotel room entitles you to a full American breakfast with ice in your cokes, and a huge hot shower, then London is probably not for you. If someone speaking another language makes you nervous instead of curious, stay home.

If you’re like me, and love meeting people who have had a different life experience. If you think of yourself more as a citizen of Earth than any one country, then London is for you. If you go looking for the London of Dickens or Pepys, or Holmes, then the movie is right -

IT’S THERE.

God save the Queen,
Dan