Living in London

Sometimes I wonder if the Britain and the US do things differently just to be ornary.

Index cards, those 3 inch by 5 inch cards of heavy paper, have a million and one uses. They are widely available in both the US and Great Britain.

In the US they are designated as 3 x 5 Index Cards, while in the UK they are 5 x 3 Record Cards (See photo).

3x5? 5x3? It is difficult to know who went first and who followed with the opposite designation.
 

Another entry in our ongoing series on the British Parliament.

Parliament is the supreme legislative institution in the United Kingdom and its overseas territories. The legislative bodies of many nations around the world are modelled on it (especially those of the Commonwealth nations). The UK Parliament is one of the oldest representative assemblies in the world, having its origins in the mid-13th Century. The United Kingdom Parliament today comprises members from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The Queen is the head of the State here (yes really!) and the rest of Parliament is comprised of an Upper House (the House of Lords) and a Lower House (the House of Commons). The 695 members of the House of Lords (known as 'peers') are not elected. Originally, they were drawn from the various groups of senior and influential nobility in Britain, who advised the monarch throughout the country's early history.

Unlike the House of Lords, the 659 members of the House of Commons are democratically elected and, as such, are directly responsible to the electorate. The forthcoming British elections will be to chose the members of the House of Commons.

In modern times, the centre of parliamentary power is in the House of Commons; the Queen acts only as a figurehead, and the powers of the House of Lords are greatly limited. The House of Lords is a more prestigious group and a “peerage” may be a kind of reward for time well spent in the British government. (Stay tuned for more details on both houses.)

Additional reading:

• House of Parliament (Wikipedia)
• An Introduction to Parliament
• Politics in the United Kingdom (Wikipedia)
• Previous Living in London posts

We have started to think about driving in the UK but are a little daunted by the idea of sitting on the right hand side of the car and driving on the left. A lifetime of habits and instincts have been embedded while driving on the right hand side of the road.

Brian Lucas (he's Canadian, you know) has written a fabulous article answering the question "Which side of the road do they drive on?" Of the 240 countries listed in his report. 74 of them drive on the left. Who knew?

Interesting highlights from his article:

Did the United States ever drive on the left?

• Yes. The evidence we have been able to collect is mostly indirect, but it seems almost certain that in the early years of English colonization of North America, English driving customs were followed and the colonies drove on the left, gradually changing to right-hand driving after independence.

What about pedestrians?

• Keeping right is the normal practice in the USA and Canada.
• The United Kingdom seems not to have a preference as to which side of the path to use when walking . . . This doesn't mean that the British bump into each other. They don't tend to use single-file traffic, but they still manage to negotiate their way effectively using body language, eye contact, and other cues to signal their intentions and notice others' intentions.(ed. note: in other words, walking on a crowded street is complete mayhem! )

(Thanks to joe-ks for the sign photo!)

Now here’s a British topic . . . and a controversial one.

According to this article in the Jan 24/31, 2005 issue of The New Yorker, fox hunting is the second most divisive issue in British politics today, and only a slight second to the war in Iraq. Here are some fascinating facts:

• 407,000 people participated in one particularly large demonstration in favor of hunting
• 240 fox and stag hunts are held in the British Isles each year
• 70,000 people ride in these annual events
• To participate you need two trained horses, a place to stable them, a groom, and all the feed, vets, blacksmiths, insurance, boots and clothes, and a subscription to the hunt itself – £1,500 per horse
• More than a million people annually “follow” the hunt, that is, they follow it on foot, or in Land Rovers, or on quad bikes
• The House of Lords (those with a peerage, aka a title of baron bestowed by the Queen) support the right to fox hunt
• The House of Commons (the elected folks, the bulk of whom are from the Labour party – traditionally the trade union types) generally are against it. (More on these two Houses soon.)

As liberal Americans, you can guess where we stand on this issue, as well as our challenge in understanding the class distinctions and cultural issues that have led to the uproar.

A wonderful Saturday morning in London. Up early and onto the number 9 bus just outside Kensington Gardens, riding in the top front seats on a double decker bus, enjoying the best urban vantage point of all time. Frost on the grass, a nip in the air, and a clear sky promising sun. We ride through Knightsbridge, past Hyde Park Corner, along Piccadilly, past Trafalgar Square and St. Martin-in-the-Fields, along the Strand into the theatre district. The bus discharges us on Aldwych street and we walk along the Strand, past the Royal Courts of Justice, toward St Paul’s Cathedral. Here we turn toward the River Thames and cross it on the Millennium Bridge, arriving on the south side of the River. The sun is rising but our breath is still frosty as we walk along the River toward London Bridge. We are en route to our favourite market – the Borough – located at the Southwark Cathedral and Winchester Square. We pass under the southern end of the Southward Bridge, and learn something amazing from a ditty inscribed on some slate panels along the walkway there:

Behold the liquid Thames now frozen o’er
That lately ships of mighty burden bore.
Here you print your name tho’ cannot write
‘Cause numbe’d with cold: ‘Tis done with great delight.
And lay it by: That ages yet to come
May see what things upon the ice were done

– printed on a broadsheet from the Frost Fair of 1739-40

Apparently, in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Thames used to freeze! The fact that the river was once much wider and shallower, coupled with the constrictions of the old London Bridge arches (which slowed the course of the river) meant that there were occasions when the Thames actually froze over. On these occasions, booths were set up on the frozen waters, printing presses sold souvenir broadsheets, whole oxen would be roasted and activities such as dancing and archery took place. These Frost Fairs are recorded in the winters of 1564-5, 1683-4, 1715-6, 1739-40 and 1813-4. 1814 was to be the last winter when a Frost Fair was held, as London Bridge was replaced a decade later with a new bridge of fewer arches. With less restrictions the Thames flowed more freely and has never frozen over since.

In our ongoing series of the politics of the United Kingdom, today we look at The Cabinet.

The Cabinet is the committee at the centre of the British political system and is the supreme decision-making body in British Government. When the Cabinet meets, Secretaries of State from all departments, and other ministers, meet in 10 Downing Street to discuss issues of the day. The Prime Minister chairs the meetings, selects its members, and also recommends their appointment as Ministers by the Monarch. Most members are Secretaries of State by title, with some exceptions. The number of members that can be paid as Cabinet Ministers is limited to 21.

For more information, see this page on the 10 Downing Street site or this wonderful entry in Wikipedia.

Tally ho!

All over London we have noticed onate metal boxes labeled "Grit." When you open it you find, well, grit or sand. The boxes started to appear in late December, shortly after winter officially arrived. A Google search has turned up very little. Are they for anyone’s use (we assume yes). Does the city move them in for the winter and remove them in the spring (we assume yes again because we never noticed them before the last few weeks).

It is mid January and the weather has been moderate here lately with lows in the 40's (Fahrenheit) and highs in the mid 50's. Just how cold is it going to get? Can we expect the streets to be covered in sheets of ice some morning?

The grit boxes are so ornate. It’s a quaint and wonderful place, this London!

Oxford Street at 4 PM on a Saturday afternoon from the front seat on the upper deck of a double-decker bus.

Buses . . . people . . . and more buses.

Click image for larger picture

I found this article on the London Times today. I must say that the headline threw me for a loop.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts signs up Hollick as it targets UK media

By Dan Sabbagh

KOHLBERG Kravis Roberts, the US venture capital group, served notice yesterday that it plans to target UK and European media companies as it appointed Lord Hollick, the outgoing chief executive of United Business Media, as a managing director.

You can read the entire article here

As a follow-up to our post on Prime Ministers yesterday, we wanted to add a bit of colour about 10 Downing Street. In the US, the President lives and works in the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Similarly, the Prime Minister of Britain lives and works at 10 Downing Street.

No 10 Downing Street is a historic building that is also a place of work. It is a symbol of Government known the world over and is the home to the Prime Minister and his family. From the outside, the plain Georgian frontage with its famous black door appears too small to accommodate all these roles. Inside, the building opens out to reveal a series of elegant state rooms, used both for official receptions and everyday meetings. Offices for the staff of the Prime Minister's Office are crammed into every spare space.

A few interesting facts about 10 Downing street:

• Number 10 has been the official home of the Prime Minister since 1735 when Sir Robert Walpole first took residence
• It has been home to over 50 Prime Ministers
• Downing Street stands on the site of a former brewery
• Number 10 was originally Number 5
• The last private resident of Number 10 was a Mr Chicken
• The Cabinet usually meets once a week in 10 Downing Street, normally on a Thursday morning, in the Cabinet room

Take a few minutes to explore the rich site dedicated to 10 Downing Street.

The British use a parliamentary system in which the role of Head of Government is separated from the role of Head of State. The Head of State is the Sovereign, or the British Monarch --- currently Queen Elizabeth II.The Prime Minister is appointed by the Queen, who is bound by constitutional convention to choose the individual most likely to command the support of the House of Commons. The natural choice is usually the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons. Tony Blair, for example, is the leader of the Labour Party, which has the majority in the House of Commons. (Look for more details on the Houses of Parliament in posts later this week.)

Should the Prime Minister lose the confidence of the House of Commons he or she is obliged, by custom, to either resign or to request the monarch to call a general election. If the Prime Minister resigns, the Queen can try to find another Prime Minister who has the confidence of the House.

There have been twelve British Prime Ministers since WWII began:

We post a lot about our regular walks in the park but it is such a refreshing place to be. In addition to the great exercise walks there are the happy dogs and the rabbits, and the Queen's Flower Walk.

Yesterday we were touched by the sight if children playing in the leaves. They were throwing leaves and laughing and having a wonderful time. Of course, there was a happy dog nearby to round out the fun.

Long live the public park.

2005 will be an election year in England, and we plan to actually read the news as the election approaches. We will share what we learn about the British system of government. The first thing that seems a bit weird, reading about all this as an American, is that the UK holds elections on some sort of ad hoc basis. Could be February, May or June.

The British General Election 2005 is expected to be held in May. However, in early November 2004, widespread news reports claimed that a snap poll could be held as early as February. According to The Scotsman, Labour Party officials "insisted that May remained the most likely time for the poll." In mid-November 2004, The Guardian claimed that May 5th was the most likely date, with the convenient abbreviation 5.5.5 (i.e. 5/5/05). However in mid-December, another Guardian article reported that "The coming general election could be held as late as June 16 and not, as most MPs in all parties have been expecting, on May 5, senior ministers are privately warning colleagues."

Turns out that general elections are held at intervals of up to five years. The Government can, and often does, decide to hold one at an earlier date. In times of national emergency, such as war, general elections can be postponed, but this is very rare. A general election is the election of the whole House of Commons at one time, that is, one Member of Parliament (MP) for each constituency in the United Kingdom. The candidates may be from any one of a number of political parties, or if not from a registered party, he or she may stand as an 'Independent'. One Independent MP was returned at the 2001 General Election. Also, a parliamentary by-election can be held when a seat falls vacant in the House of Commons (usually because an MP dies, resigns or is made a member of the House of Lords).

Stay tuned for additional posts on the British government . . .

In March of 2004 the BBC asked readers to vote for the top 50 things that everyone should try before they die. The results are in. Here are some of highlights:

• Cream Tea
• Crab
• American Diner Breakfast
• Moreton Bay bugs
• Guinea Pig, and of course,
• Chocolate

Be sure to check out the complete list on the BBC site.

Our contribution to the year-end countdowns is this wonderful list from the BBC News that enumerates 100 things we did not know last year.

6. Dame Judi Dench sends 450 Christmas presents, according to her daughter.

18. There are 75 withdrawals from cash machines every second in the UK.

27. So much for the overworked society, the average British employee actually works 75 minutes less a week than in 1997, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

39. More Brits die each year falling from their hotel balcony than do in diving accidents, according to Foreign Office statistics.

47. A "jiffy" is 10 milliseconds in computer science terms.

73. Ducks have regional accents. London ducks shout out a rough quack to be heard above the urban din; those in the West Country make a quieter, softer sound.

Twas an interesting year, it was.

Thanks to J-Walk for the link.

We often feel that we are on the “opposite side of the world” from our friends and family in the San Francisco Bay Area, but it turns out that is more figurative than literal!

It turns out that if you drill through the earth you will not end up in China. See this map for an explanation.

We spent the New Years weekend upgrading our blog software from b2 (which no longer seems to be supported) to the latest
b2 Evolution. It is much improved on the back end and the look and feel seems a bit improved as well.

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