This is EUROVISION

So we were flipping through channels and happened upon the second set of semifinals for Eurovision. This is a hugely popular music competition among the countries of Europe and each country gets to submit a single act. We think it is so popular mainly because it is so bad and over the top. Here are our four favorites of the evening:

Three favorite parts in this one are: the Trojans, the drum solo and the pumping pistons!

Her boots, her mini tiara and the dancers are awesome.

So bad, they are good, both above and below. The top one is a cross between the Bee Gees and Hairspray. The first singer is Goldmember from Austin Powers, second singer is a Bee Gee gone bad and the third singer is a Huey Lewis impersonator.

The dancers' shoes are perrrrfect and that HAIR and the accordian...

ABBA won Eurovision like 30 years ago and the competition itself is in its 53rd year. We were just enthralled.

Happy Mother's Day

Hello all you Mom's out there! Please go to this link

http://timesonline.typepad.com/alphamummy/

and laugh out loud. You are going to have to cut and paste it. Or just watch it below since YouTube finally let me embed it. If you are reading this from Facebook, view the original post.

Prescott Hill Climb

A few weekends ago, Craig, Finn and Owen went to see the Prescott Hill Climb. It's a two-day exhibition of old and new racing cars. They had a lot of fun and it was noisy and exciting.

The sign reads: "WARNING MOTORSPORT CAN BE DANGEROUS!"

A very small snippet of the action

Chitty Chitty

Bang Bang

Ta for now old chap

Yet Another Cheltenham Festival

Yesterday Finn competed at THE Cheltenham Festival. The Cheltenham Festival of Performing Arts is a week-long competition open to school groups, children and adults in the arts - singing, dancing and playing instruments. Finn competed as part of the St. Edward's Junior Boys' Choir. There are approximately 10 Year Six boys in the choir. They sang two songs - Heatwave and The Ballad of Big Tex. Overall, they tied for third place out of a group of six schools. The other schools' choirs were much larger than St. Ed's, but the boys held their own and did a fantastic job. The best part was at the end when the adjudicator ("judge" in US English) talked to the groups and dished out the results. She was just perfect in every aspect of her job title. As a funny note, I had no idea what to expect. I thought the boys were singing as entertainment between acts from the most recent Cheltenham Jazz Festival which I learned ended last weekend. So I was surprised (and I think Finn was as well) to discover it was a competition. Sorry but photography and videotaping were not allowed so there's no evidence of the event.
Just in case you are wondering, there are quite a few Festivals in Cheltenham:
Cheltenham Jazz Festival (late April)
Cheltenham Festival of Performing Arts (early May)
Cheltenham Science Festival (early June)
Cheltenham Food & Wine Festival (mid June)
Cheltenham Music Festival (early July)
Cheltenham Literature Festival (mid October)

A Bit Teary-Eyed

I am a tad sad this morning. I just dropped my baby off at school to go on a three-day adventure trip to Shropshire (north of us). Sniffle sniff... Wait, who am I kidding?? I am ecstatic!!! And a bit teary-eyed.

The Weather Forecast

Here is the latest weather forecast and I quote, "Prepare to be disappointed."

My British Rant for the Day

I like living here, but it drives me crazy how the British think they are the only ones who speak proper English, French and Spanish. For example, when speaking of Madeira, I say "muh dare uh" as it is truly pronounced in dictionaries and the Wikipedia entry as well - believe me, I've checked. However, when I say the name, British people not only look at me like I am from a foreign country, but perhaps from outer space as well. Then they say, "Where is that?", I tell them and I inevitably get, "OOOHHH, you mean Madeeeeera" like I am an idiot. I also get, "Oh you mean po tah toes", "Oh you mean the shops" and stuff like that. And if I hear the /ae/ sound like in "quack" one more time when it should be /a/ like in "hot", I think I might scream! Yes, I know you say it differently or have a different word, but really how different is shop from store? If you understand what I am saying, why tell me how you say it? Because I probably already know but am consciously using MY word because I am from AMERICA!
And usually this doesn't bother me because I like to learn and observe new things, but it's been non-stop today at the shops and people are driving me nuts. I need a good cup of coffee and no, I am not PMSing.
Also, the kids are learning French and Spanish in school. Both Owen and Finn have a real knack for languages. Evan does as well, especially the grammar component, but I think his "window" is closing in terms of French. Anyway, Finn and Owen will come home and will talk about their lessons and pronounce the words in such a horribly Briticized foreign accent, I am just appalled sometimes. For example, in French, you tend to glide the last sound from a previous word into the next one especially if the next one begins with a vowel (kind of like how we say "gotcha" and "wanna"). This is common knowledge that is definitely taught in the US. Here, the French teacher just ignores it so the kids sound like French robots. And don't get me started on vowel pronunciation. It's just so British it sounds NOTHING like the foreign language. There is a candy here called "Bueno" which should be pronounced "bway no", but no, it's "bwen oh" because ya just gotta put that British spin on it. Luckily, Evan's Spanish teacher is from Italy so he has a real grip on good pronunciation.
But my point is, there is no telling a British person what is truly correct when it comes to pronunciation. I think accents here so define one's heritage that it falls upon deaf ears. (That was actually a funny thing to write - accents falling on deaf ears, get it?) And also all that Imperialistic attitude of imposing one's beliefs upon other cultures. Oh well, I guess I will just have to make sure that the kids don't sound like they've just taken a crash course in Britain in whatever the language when we travel.