THE BRITISH THREAD II

Clary wrote-



And Henry Fielding 250 years ago. Who's Adam Curtis. Can he write like Fielding? The hermit's tale in Book 8 or 9. Tom takes a more innocent line of course. He's only a kid.

But Bill Burroughs steps it up. Homer, Juvenal, Ovid, Rabelais, Shakespeare, Stendhal, Flaubert, Proust, Henry Miller, Mailer are others in the line. Is Adam Curtis up to any of that.

There is nothing paranoid about a true situation. Paranoia is an unreasonable fear. It isn't paranoia to drive on the left hand side of the road. It is totally sensible. Nor is there anything cynical about the truth.

Hello all you Brits and British Thread readers. And how are we all today?

The day has dawned here cold, bright and clear, after yesterday's gales and sleet.

Hey, McTag! Today seems to be a national holiday on the British Thread.

The miserable bastards have all flown the coop.

Unreliable swabs.

Well Mac-

That might mean that they don't know what Britishness means.

Okay Spendi, I'll buy, because you're bound to have an opinion on this-

What does Britishness mean?

How's the weather today?

Here in Munich it snowed overnight - I understand there have also been flurries in Blighty.

Britishness...good question. I think there's been a thread on something akin to that question at some point, which focused on the external perceptions of the British rather than the internal ones.

In our modern nation, I believe that Britishness (as opposed to English/Scottish/Irish/Welshness) is more a state of mind encompassing (as a start) the acceptance of:

1. the rule of law;
2. the rights of individuals to express themselves (freedom of speech, religion and culture); and
3. the need for a framework of responsibility to provide for the welfare of those who cannot provide if for themselves (internationally as well as within Britain).

With that, I pass the baton.

Britishness......

the appreciation of a good cup of tea,

good manners and decorum,

a dry sense of humour

moaning.

would that be business or pleasure?

Is there a difference?

(having had first hand knowledge of both types, i can honestly say most definitely...)

Mac wrote-



I refer you to Matthew Arnold's essay Literary Influence of Academies. The essentials are laid out there. He is discussing why the French have an Academy and we do not.

There's the Tebbit cricket test and the "lie back and think of England" folk wisdom.

It is difficult to imagine any sensible person voting for Mr Cameron after that woeful reply to the budget. It did demonstrate the good manners of Mr Brown though. A normal person would have left the chamber.

English people use the terms English and British interchangeably.
Cheeky buggers.

To the other inhabitants of these islands, they're not the same.

Anyway Dorothy's got closest so far, imho.

If she has Mac there's not a lot of Britishness about. Appreciating a cup of tea is no use. Many others do that. In some places they really, really, really appreciate tea. And they moan a good deal all over the world.

As for good manners and decorum then our pub must be off Dover somewhere especially on the decorum. You can see half way down the arse cracks at weekends. Disgusting.

There hasn't been anything funny on our TV since Benny Hill was fired for being too funny.

Sense of humour is a self-flattering notion.

Still-stick with it Mac. Matthew Arnold didn't know nothing.

region phil wrote-



Same here.

Okay now we're missing Steve, Ellpus, Mathos, Smorgs and sundry others who are sometime or erratic posters.

WTF? Is it something I said?

Steve, I have heard, has connection problems. Bad luck Steve, hope that clears up soon. :wink:

I'm not familiar with the works of Matthew Arnold on Britishness- but I suspect he wrote about Englishness. I'll get down the library and try to improve my knowledge in that field.
In my Scottish school I became familiar with Palgreave's Golden Treasury of English verse- Sheets, Kelly, Wordworth, Tennyson, all that. Very worthy, very stirring, very romantic in the wider sense.
I even incline to John Major's vision of E/Britishness, with nostalgia for a time and place which probably never existed except for the very few.

British?

Unassuming, self-deprecatory, long-suffering, suspicious of excellence, untidy, independent verging on anarchic. English are xenophobic, Scots largely are not.

For Spendy- does a tattoo on the buttocks improve the involuntary exposure of a nether cleft? I incline to the opinion that it does not.

Dolly-tastic.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/entertainment/music/live_reviews/s/1002/1002460_dolly_parton__men_arena.html

I saved my brass. But a good time was had by most.

She's great. Enhanced, though, she admits. :wink:

That's really English. And very nice it is too. Almost as good as Dylan's version.