September 2012
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
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WHAT’S ON • POLITICS EATING OUT • SPORT MUSIC • REVIEWS ARTS CHOICE
The American Interview:
HARRY SHEARER NCAA and NFL Previews and Nate Solder Interview Classic yacht racing on both sides of the Atlantic
FREE TO READ In print or on screen Wherever you are Every issue of the magazine now available online... including the very latest IN PRINT: You can pick a copy up from (among other places): The US Embassy in London and US Consulates The United/Continental and Virgin clubhouses at Heathrow Hotels around the UK The American Museum in Britain (near Bath) Automat American Brasserie in Dover Street, Mayfair, London All the organizations listed in back of the magazine, including American social groups, alumni associations, churches, schools and colleges have copies for their members to read. If you’re in the military, USAF bases in the UK have copies for you. REGULAR COPIES: If you’d like a copy delivered to your home or workplace, the only thing we’ll ask you to pay for is the post and packaging – use the form (right) or call us on +44 (0)1747 830520. ON SCREEN: Read The American on your mobile device or computer at www.theamerican.co.uk Click on the front cover image on the home page for the current issue, or on the MAGAZINE tab where you can see back issues too.
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The American ®
Issue 713 – September 2012 PUBLISHED BY SP MEDIA FOR
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Old Byre House, East Knoyle, Salisbury SP3 6AW, UK Telephone all departments: +44 (0)1747 830520 Publisher: Michael Burland Editor: Richard L Gale editor@theamerican.co.uk Please contact us with your news or article ideas Advertising & Promotions: Sabrina Sully, Commercial Director advertising@theamerican.co.uk Subscriptions: theamerican@blueedge.co.uk Correspondents: Virginia E Schultz, Food & Drink virginia@theamerican.co.uk Mary Bailey, Social mary@theamerican.co.uk Estelle Lovatt, Arts estelle@theamerican.co.uk Alison Holmes, Politics alison@theamerican.co.uk Jarlath O’Connell, Theater jarlath@theamerican.co.uk Richard L Gale, Sports Editor richard@theamerican.co.uk Jeremy Lanaway, Hockey jeremy@theamerican.co.uk
©2012 Blue Edge Publishing Ltd. Printed by Advent Colour Ltd., 19 East Portway Industrial Estate, Andover, SP10 3LU www.advent-colour.co.uk ISSN 2045-5968 Cover: Harry Shearer. Circular Inset: Nate Solder (photo David Silverman, courtesy of the New England Patriots). Square Inset: Eilean, part of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge
Welcome S
ummer, what summer? Recent expat arrivals and American visitors might be excused for thinking that the sun only shines in Britain when the Olympic Games are happening. Not so, of course – there were a couple of decent weeks in May, I recall. But now it’s fall, the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. Some think it’s the best of the British climate. The weather’s nearly always better than people expect (unlike summer) and there’s so much to do – it’s a great time for county shows and other country pursuits, particularly, and we have plenty of ideas for you in our specially selected Diary Dates. Not in this issue, but worth reading on the website, is Higher, Faster, Longer, a thoughtful article that ties together the Olympic legacy, post-war American ascendence, smoking bans and the possibility of holding the Games on another planet – it’s at www.theamerican.co.uk. And if it does happen to rain, why not stay in, put your feet up and read our interview with Harry Shearer while you play his hilarious new album. Enjoy your magazine and website,
Michael Burland, Publisher michael@theamerican.co.uk
SOME OF THIS MONTH’S CONTRIBUTORS
Baltimore-born and one-time Washingtonian Kosha Engler is a theater, radio and film actress who now lives in London with her British husband, baby boy and two cats.
James Carroll Jordan is an American actor living and working in London who shares with us his amusing stories of what it’s like behind the scenes in the acting world.
Jane Bowles is a classic car connoisseur who loves traveling in Europe and good food and wine – all the best things in life, then.
Don’t forget to check out The American online at www.theamerican.co.uk The entire contents of The American and www.theamerican.co.uk are protected by copyright and no part of it may be reproduced without written permission of the publishers. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information in The American is accurate, the editor and publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions or any loss arising from reliance on it. The views and comments of contributors are not necessarily those of the publishers.
September 2012 1
The American The American • Issue 713 • September 2012
In This Issue... Regular Sections 4 News 8 Diary Dates 18 Wining & Dining 26 Music 31 Coffee Break 32 Arts Choice
36 43 46 48 57 65
Book and Theater Reviews Politics DriveTime Sports American Organizations The A-List
12 Talking Posh
28 Taking the Hint
American actress Kosha Engler explores the British obsession with class
Michael Burland talks to Harry Shearer about his new album... and much more
34 Art: By Way of these Eyes
13 Ready to Take the Gloves Off
Christopher Hyland talks about his famous collection of American photography
Jeannine Wheeler’s latest My Word! looks at sporting intrusions into the English language
37 The Laundry Man
14 The Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge
The American talks to Ken Rijock, the money launderer turned hunter of drug criminals
Discovering the beauty, speed and competitiveness of classic yacht racing in the Med and on both sides of the Atlantic
43 The State of Play Sir Robert Worcester analyses the latest from the US Election statistics
28 Harry Shearer 16 Travel: Go Ouest Young Man – The Ile de Noirmoutiers Why not make 2012 the year to discover the West of France?
18 Cooking with Gas James Carroll Jordan takes time out to get some expert guidance in the kitchen
20 Marcus Wareing Virginia E Schultz meets restaurateur Marcus Wareing ...and borrows a recipe
14 Classic Yachts 2 August 2012
48 College Football
21 Two Greedy Italians Eat Italy Book review and recipe: Risotto with Prawns and Courgette Flowers
47 First Drive: Chevrolet Camaro Chevy’s old-school muscle car is now officially on sale in the UK
48 NCAA Football Preview Bama, Barkley and Ball – who can spare a loss and still make the championship game?
51 NFL Preview Dropping Back, Stepping Up – who’s in shape to make a breakthrough this year?
54 Protecting Brady We catch a few words with Patriots offensive lineman Nate Solder
55 NCAA Football Competition Win NCAA football merchandise, courtesy of The American and ESPN
The American
PHOTO © NASA
An artist’s impression of Curiosity, the latest of NASA’s Mars rovers, which touched down on the red planet this past month. Mars missions have been notoriously prone to failure but the one-ton nuclear-powered robot has already begun to send back images.
Sally Ride (1951-2012)
Even as NASA celebrated the success of its latest Mars rover, the scientific community was mourning the passing of astronaut and physicist Sally Ride. Dr Ride died of pancreatic cancer at her La Jolla, California home at the age of 61. A graduate of Stanford, where she earned a Ph.D. in Physics, Ride answered a newspaper advertisement to earn a place on NASA’s space program, and became the first American woman in space as a Challenger crew member in 1983 and 1984. She spent a total of 343 hours in space, and was chosen as part of the commission to investigate the Challenger disaster. After her time at NASA, Dr Ride became a professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego, and also authored several children’s books about space. She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, Astronaut Hall of Fame, and the California Hall of Fame. She leaves behind her partner of 25 years, Tam O’Shaughnessy.
4 September 2012
PHOTO COURTESY US EMBASSY
First Lady leads US delegation to Olympics
“I
’m so excited,” said Michelle Obama after jogging onto the stage in the garden of the US Ambassador’s residence in London’s Regent’s Park July 27. “I am thrilled to be here in London for the 2012 Olympic games. I am proud to be leading the US delegation to the opening ceremony.” Accompanying her were US Ambassador Louis Susman and former US Olympians including soccer player Brandi Chastain, swimmer Summer Sanders, basketball player Grant Hill and artistic gymnast Dominique Dawes. A marching band playing the University of Florida fight song gave an American sports feel to the family event, which was part of ‘Let’s Move’, a US Olympic Committee initiative aimed at encouraging 1.7 million children to become active in sports in 2012. Mrs Obama said the Olympics will encourage kids to get off the couch and onto the playing field, and the reception she was given by the 1,000 American military children from UK bases as well as American and British students gave the impression that the initiative will work. The First Lady paid tribute to the military families at the event:
“We are so grateful for your service because you all sacrifice so much – you as kids, your mums, your dads,” she said. “You sacrifice so much for this country and we are so very proud of you.” To the delight of the crowd she then joined in sports including tug-of-war and soccer with the excited children on the residence’s lawn. Earlier in the day the First Lady visited Team USA’s training facility at the University of East London. Over breakfast she told members of the team, “As you all compete here, think of your fellow competitors back home, all those young kids who are going to be thinking of the visions they see of you as they go spike a ball or put their toe in that first water. They’re going to look at you and then they’re going to try something, right?” She advised the athletes, “You all take advantage of everything. Stop, look around you. I know in my position, sometimes I don’t get a chance to breathe or take it in. This only happens every few years, so try and have fun. Try to breathe a little bit.” She added to much laughter, “But also win, right? In the end, winning is good.”
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POLITICS ADDENDA: Paul Ryan chosen as Republican VP Candidate Breaking political analysis by Sir Robert Worcester: In an unusual departure from custom, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced on August 11 (over a fortnight from the start of the Republican National Convention), that Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan would be his vice presidential ‘running mate’. Two days later, Gallup reported just ten percent of Americans said they were satisfied with the way Congress is doing its job. Vice president appointments are not elected, but chosen, balancing electoral, demographic and geographic factors. Sarah Palin was picked to bolster the right wing support for John McCain and pick up women’s votes as well. My analysis of the 2008 election showed that the presence of Sarah Palin didn’t seem to affect the outcome one way or the other. Alaska was already a safe Republican state, so nothing there. Women, a five point swing to Obama/Biden between 2004 and 2008; overall, a five point swing to Obama/ Biden. Net effect, nil. Ryan? I’d guess the same, nil.
6 September 2012
© ALEXANDER RATHS
PHOTO: GAGE SKIDMORE
The American
Retiring in our 60s? US Citizens may be facing reality better than Brits
Americans more realistic than Brits about retirement, says financial CEO
A
new study by the American Center for Retirement Research at Boston College reveals that 85 per cent of Americans have resigned themselves to retiring at 70. That’s a more realistic expectation than most Brits have, according to Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group. “Most American workers now accept that they will have to work past 65 so they can accumulate sufficient savings to be able to enjoy a high standard of living in retirement. Brits want the same financially secure retirement although the majority also fully expects to retire by 65. “This is wholly unrealistic because most Brits, like Americans, haven’t saved nearly enough”, Green comments. According to the Center for Retirement Research, the typical US household nearing retirement has less than $100,000 in savings. ”Almost every study carried out in the UK this year suggests that nearly half the population isn’t putting enough aside. If Brits still aspire to stop working at 65, there needs to be a dynamic revitalisation of the UK’s saving culture.”
Events at the Eccles Centre for American Studies
T
he Eccles Centre for American Studies is hosting a number of interesting events at the British Library in early September, including: A WWII-set play, Tigers in Red Weather (September 3). Author Liza Klaussmann will be interviewed by the British Library Eccles Centre Writer in Residence, Naomi Wood. Lord David Puttnam will consider The Lessons of Leveson (September
10) and the future of media regulation in the wake of the Leveson inquiry, and new challenges of the internet age. And on September 12, Elizabeth Hay, author of the award-winning Late Nights on Air talks about her new book Alone in the Classroom in Summer Scholars 2012. For further details of these and other events, visit www.bl.uk/eccles.
The American
British Students on US Exchange
B
ritish teenagers are enjoying two different exchange programs to the United States this summer run by the Embassy in London. The first group of 15 and 16 year olds arrived back August 14 after exploring American entrepreneurship in Vermont, Boston and New York. On the two week trip they paired up with local Vermont high school students to learn how to think creatively, understand what
social entrepreneurism means, and gain knowledge of what you need to be a successful entrepreneur. Highlights will include visiting the Ben and Jerry ice cream factory, Harvard and Dartmouth universities and working with local entrepreneurs at a Farmers’ Market. The second group are visiting Washington DC, Columbus, OH and Charlotte, NC from August 26 to September 8. They will get practical experience of the US political system by attending the Democratic convention and learn about presidential campaigns by participating in electoral events of both parties. They will be partnered with young Americans involved in political work. The participants are reporting on their trips at www.makewav.es/ ukusentrepreneurship so friends, family, teachers, fellow students and members of the public can follow their journey.
NSDAR Welcomes New Regent
T
he London-based Walter Hines Page Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution has a new Regent, Diana Frances Diggines. Mrs Diggines was born in New York. Although living all her life in the UK, she has retained strong links with her wider family in the United States and, she says, feels “part of both countries.” The thriving DAR Chapter (chartered in 1925 making it the oldest active unit overseas) has 123 members, an increase of over 30% in two years, plus associates around the world. They meet formally five times a year and also have informal events: in September they are going on a ‘Seeds of
Revolution – Pilgrims and Puritans’ walk in South London before traveling to the sailing place of the Mayflower. www.dar.org
Kosha Engler: Video Games
The voice of one of The American’s contributors, Kosha Engler (her article ‘Talking Posh’ appears on page 16) can be heard in two video game releases out this Fall. The Baltimore-born actress can be heard sporting both American and British accents for characters in expansion packs for Star Wars: The Old Republic, and she also lends her vocal talents to Need for Speed: Most Wanted, out in October. Kosha’s article about appearing in computer games, ‘Adventures in Lycra’ featured in our May issue.
Competition Winners
The winner of tickets to see the play Detroit at the National Gallery was Clive Weatherley of Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire. Gloria Blevins of Ickenham, Middlesex won Jersey Boys tickets. A case of Beringer wines was won by Lacey Culley who lives in London SE16 (but is, coincidentally, originally from Napa Valley). And Jeffrey Diener of London W2 won the model Chevrolet Volt car. The winners of the pinch hitter caps, supplied by ESPN, were Gamze Newell of London SW7 and Bryan Sollenberger of London E1. Look out for The American’s competitions and remember, you’ve gotta be in it to win it!
September 2012 7
The American
Diary Dates
Your Guide To The Month Ahead
See our full events listing online at www.theamerican.co.uk
Get your event listed in The American – call the editor on +44 (0)1747 830520, or email details to editor@theamerican.co.uk Ceramics in the City: A three-day selling fair The Geffrye Museum of the Home, 136 Kingsland Road, London E2 8EA www.geffrye-museum.org.uk September 21 to 23 Ceramics in the City will showcase an exciting range of work by around 50 selected ceramicists, a mix of both established names and rising talents. An array of styles, techniques, colour and texture will be shown in items ranging from functional tableware and other domestic objects, to purely aesthetic or quirky one-off pieces. Throughout the event, visitors will have the opportunity to browse and buy, talk to ceramicists and watch free demonstrations. A special preview evening will be held on September 13 from 6-8.30 pm.
The Great Dorset Steam Fair Tarrant Hinton, Dorset DT11 8HX www.gdsf.co.uk August 29 to September 2 THE National Heritage Show, this is the leading steam engine and agricultural pursuits show of its type in the world, covering over 600 acres. Showman's and working steam engines, heavy horses, classic cars, motorbikes, funfair and live music.
Bowiefest Institute of Contemporary Art, 12 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AH bowiefest.net August 31 to September 2 Three days of non-stop Bowie await as the ICA hosts Bowiefest, celebrating the singer's foray into film, with screenings, question and answer sessions and talks.
Cedar Hill Various, UK cedarhillbluegrass.com August 31 to September 8 Performing at the Didmarton Bluegrass Festival in Kemble and the Gower Bluegrass Festival in Swansea, Wales, Cedar Hill promise to bring their traditional Bluegrass sound from the Ozark mountains of Missouri and Arkansas all the way to the UK.
Mediterranean Weekend at Hever Castle Hever Castle, Nr Edenbridge, Kent TN8 7NG www.hevercastle.co.uk September 1 to 2 The romantic castle’s Italian Garden provides the perfect backdrop for this weekend. Find design inspiration and see which exotic plants you can grow in your own garden such as chillies, olives and citrus fruits. Costumed historical interpreters will bring the Roman statues in the Italian Garden to life with short interactive plays. Try your hand at have-a-go Roman archery with expert instruction for all the family. And enjoy a taste of the Mediterranean in the award-winning restaurants.
The Braemar Gathering The Princess Royal and Duke of Fife Memorial Park, Braemar, Scotland www.braemargathering.org September 1 Dating back to 1832, the gathering is one of the gems of the Scottish sporting calendar. Including traditional highland games, pipe bands and much more.
American Civil War Round Table UK 13-15 Gt Scotland Yard, London SW1A 2HJ www.acwrt.org.uk Further information contact Peter Gasgoyne-Lockwood 01747 828719 September 1 Topic: General Lew Wallace, who wrote Ben Hur. Speaker Gail Stephens. 12.30 to 16.00
Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, OX20 1PP www.blenheim-horse.co.uk September 6 to 9
The American
A fantastic 3 day event in the spectacular grounds of Blenheim Palace, a must for equestrian fans.
Ludlow Food Festival Ludlow, Shropshire, SY8 1DG www.foodfestival.co.uk September 7 to 9 With more than 150 local food and drink producers, Ludlow Castle is the centre point for a festival featuring demonstrations, taste workshops, and also a food themed book festival.
IWM Duxford Air Show IWM Duxford, Cambridgeshire, CB22 4QR www.iwm.org.uk 01223 499 353 September 8 to 9 Alongside incredible air feats now synonymous with the show, this year celebrates the 30th anniversary of the RAF’s Tornado. Notable displays include the B17 Flying Fortress, Sally B, two North American T-28 Fennecs, a PBY-5A Catalina, three Spitfires and a Douglas DC-3.
Salisbury Food & Drink Festival 2012 Salisbury, Wiltshire www.salisburyfestival.co.uk September 9 to 16 With food and drink in abundance, there's no excuse not to bring your knife and fork to Salisbury this September for plenty of cooking courses, markets, taster sessions and discounted meal offers.
Black Pudding Throwing Championships Royal Oak, Bridge Street, Ramsbottom, Lancashire September 9 Bury, Lancashire is famous for Black
Pudding, a sausage made from congealed and spiced pigs' blood, wrapped in a length of intestine. The aim of the Championships is to throw a black pudding at a collection of Yorkshire puddings 20 feet up on the side of the pub wall.
Nick Bibby, Wildlife Sculptor Sladmore Contemporary, 32 Bruton Place London W1J 6NW www.sladmore.com 020 7499 0365 September 13 to 28
Goodwood Revival Goodwood, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 0PH www.goodwood.co.uk September 14 to 16 A fantastic vintage motor racing schedule is lined up at Goodwood again this year, alongside somewhat more odd events, including the ‘Chap Olympiad’ featuring ironing board surfing and umbrella jousting.
Nick Bibby has been commissioned to create a life-size bronze sculpture of a Kodiak Grizzly Bear for the new sports hall at Brown University, Rhode Island. See the maquette of the statue along with other Bibby works in an exhibition showcasing the sculptor's magnificent animal sculptures which have a global following, with collectors including Damien Hurst, J.K. Rowling and Mick Jagger.
Country Life at Hever Castle Hever Castle & Gardens, Hever, Nr Edenbridge, Kent TN8 7NG www.hevercastle.co.uk 01732 865224 September 14 to 16 A celebration of country living in the heart of the garden of England with talented craftspeople demonstrating country crafts from wood carving and wood turning to guitar making, trug making and basket weaving. Sample food and drink from local producers, plus advice on keeping hens and bees from the experts. Exhibitors include art and photography groups, a portrait painter and face painting for children. The event incorporates the popular annual Patchwork and Quilting Exhibition.
Southampton Boat Show Mayflower Park, Southampton SO15 1HJ www.southamptonboatshow.com September 14 to 23 Explore the thousand plus boats on display, see hundreds of exhibitors and enjoy everything about boating in one giant show!
San Francisco Ballet Sadler's Wells, Rosebury Avenue, London EC1R 4TN www.sadlerswells.com September 14 to 23 September 2012 9
The American
The oldest professional ballet company in America performs a mixed bill at Sadler's Wells.
Abergavenny Food Festival Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales www.abergavennyfoodfestival.com September 15 to 16 Dubbed the 'Glastonbury of Food Festivals', Abergavenny's celebration of food will feature masterclasses, exhibitors, pop-up restaurants and plenty of tastings.
60th Anniversary of the Anthology of American Folk Music University of East Anglia, Middlesex Street, London www.americachangedthroughmusic.com September 15 The 60th anniversary of one of folk music's most influential compilations. The conference includes speakers (including Prof. Geoff Ward), modern folk acts and a short film.
Duke Ellington: The Queen's Suite Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, Croydon www.fairfield.co.uk September 21 Duke Ellington met Queen Elizabeth II in 1958, and subsequently devoted an album in her honor. Pete Long's Echoes of Ellington Orchestra presents a world premiere tour of The Queen's Suite beginning in Croydon.
USA College Day Kensington Town Hall Hornton Street, London, W8 7NX www.fulbright.org.uk September 28 and 29 The largest American university fair in the UK. If you are considering undergraduate study in the United States, USA College Day offers you the opportunity to speak with over 125 exhibitors representing universities in the US and educational service providers. Now in its 35th year, this FREE event is not to be missed by students, parents or advisors. If you are interested in registering, fill out the online form. Entrance is free if you register in advance, £5 if you register on the day. The event runs on Friday evening and all-day Saturday.
10 September 2012
Great British Cheese Festival Cardiff Castle, Cardiff, Wales www.greatbritishcheesefestival.co.uk September 22 to 23 Do you have the need for cheese? Cardiff Castle is the place to be in September, with tasters, markets, entertainment, demonstrations and masterclasses, not forgetting the novel sporting events of cheese tossing and cheese skittles.
World Stone Skimming Championships Easdale Island, Oban, Argyll and Bute PA34 www.stoneskimming.com September 23 Started in 1983 by Albert Baker, the Stone Skimming championships covers team and individual events on the beautiful Isle of Easdale.
Henley Literary Festival Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, RG9 www.henleyliteraryfestival.co.uk 01189 724700 September 24 to 30 Among American authors appearing is the Carnegie-winning Bostonian Meg Rosoff, now living in London, who will discuss her literary career and her new book There Is No Dog at the Kenton Theatre. Sir Alistair Horne and New York Times' Alan Cowell are also on the program, alongside internationally renowned guests including Michael Palin, former PM Sir John Major, David Lodge and Rupert Everett. The River Readings are also a must – drift down the Thames with relaxing poetry and prose.
Annual Symposium Eccles Centre for American Studies, British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB September 24 Andrea Wulf recalls the first global scientific collaboration – a story of warring armies, extreme weather, scientific endeavor and personal tragedy.
Toe Wrestling World Championships Ashbourne, Derbyshire www.bentleybrookinn.co.uk September 25 Competitors use nothing more than their toes to force an opponent's foot to the mat. It could have been an Olympic sport after an application was made in 1997 – but its rejection means prospective Toelympians will see the World Championships in Ashbourne as the pinnacle of their sport.
Posh The American
Posh Talking
F
rom the moment I met my English husband I could tell he was posh. I didn’t know that he was well off, went to Cambridge, was studying to be a barrister or that he could recite Shakespeare’s sonnets by heart. It was how he spoke. As an American I used to think that class was just about money. After living in the UK I now see that wealth is a small factor and that Brits are obsessed with class, although they would deny it. Class is a core part of an Englishman’s identity. It influences everything from what he thinks, to how he votes, who his friends are, which books he reads, what he eats, where he goes on vacation and of course, how he talks. As George Bernard Shaw said, “It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate him or despise him.” I have witnessed this in action. My husband, Benet, and I went on a walking tour of Rome with an English guide. She introduced herself and Benet leaned over to me and whispered, “Upper middle, Home Counties, Benenden, Edinburgh.” A few words were enough for him to deduce our guide’s class, where she grew up, that she went to a private boarding school in Kent and
12 September 2012
then to Scotland for university. She guessed his background equally accurately. They didn’t despise each other, but you get the idea. This interaction amazed me. I could hear the guide was posh but beyond that, nothing. Then I read Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour. Written by social anthropologist Kate Fox, the book is an uncannily accurate dissection of English social mores. Benet read it, smiled and said, “Oh yes that is what we do. How embarrassing.” When I read it much that had seemed strange became clear – if no less strange. I recommend you devour this gem and save yourself from many a baffling and embarrassing encounter with the English. You will learn that talking about ‘The Weather’ has nothing to do with the weather, that self-deprecation is actually a form of boasting and that English people rarely say what they really think. It’s all codes. This must be why British spies are famously good. If you can understand the hidden message in an average English conversation, cracking secret codes would be nothing.
PHOTO: MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
American actress Kosha Engler explores the British obsession with class and how speech is the giveaway
Thanks to Fox I am getting better at deciphering these codes. In retrospect, Benet and the tour guide were sending clear linguistic signals about their class. The words they used and how they pronounced them revealed them both to be undeniably upper middle. The upper middles are very self-conscious about class. I see this again and again with my husband and his friends. In the company of a working class person there’s the slightly awkward denial of any social gulf between them. When my husband speaks to a cab driver he roughs up his accent and starts saying ‘mate,’ a word usually absent from his vocabulary. Yet among his friends the utterance of a lower class word never goes unnoticed. Two of our friends say the dreaded ‘serviette’ instead of napkin and every time my husband winces. The one thing each class agrees on is that it is the best. You may have heard MP Nadine Dorries attacking David Cameron for being an ‘arrogant posh boy who doesn’t know the price of milk.’
The American
By Jeannine Wheeler
*To hear what it sounds like go to www.howcast.com/videos/500498How-to-Do-an-Estuary-Accent
Ready to take the gloves off? H
ave you ever ‘come out fighting’, had your idea ‘kicked into the long grass’ or felt ‘down and out’? If you have, you are living a sports idiom. Many widely used British turns of phrase have their origins in England’s favorite sports of football, rugby and cricket. In England, for example, political journalists often use the term ‘kicking the ball into the long grass,’ to indicate inaction and procrastination by bureaucrats and planners. The term comes from football or rugby, which stops when the ball is accidentally kicked off the field and into the grass. When players head out to look for the ball in the village green, teams can enjoy an unscheduled rest. A ‘sticky wicket’ – getting into a difficult situation – emanates from the game of cricket, where the pitch can become wet and then sticky as it dries out, making it difficult for the batsman to play. A hat trick (now commonly used in many sports for three goals) is a threefold endeavor. In cricket, a bowler who took wickets with three successive bowls was entitled to a new hat (or similar prize) awarded by his club. Surprisingly, many of today’s most popular idioms come out of the world of boxing. To ‘come out fighting’ is to immediately go on the offensive. To be ‘down and out’,
to lack prospects, is when a boxer has been knocked to the canvas, is unconscious and unable to resume the fight. ‘Down for the count’ is when the referee counts to ten seconds, giving the boxer time to regain his feet before he loses the fight. If your congressional representative has got a ‘glass jaw,’ he is especially vulnerable to criticism. This is a boxing term that refers to a fighter who is especially vulnerable to a knockout. ‘Take the gloves off ’ is another boxing term for really putting up a fight, also used in hockey when, literally, players take their gloves off to give their opponent a good slug. ‘Go the distance’ is another boxing term, referring to a fighter who can stand all 12 rounds of the fight without getting knocked down or out. To have someone ‘in your corner’ is to have support staff in a boxer’s ringside to help between rounds; ‘a heavy hitter’ is a boxer who is able to hit really hard and, of course, ‘a heavyweight’ is a weight division of 175 pounds or higher. ‘Hitting below the belt’ – an unscrupulous disregard for the rules – is when a fighter literally punches his opponent below the belt. But just remember – whichever sport you play – you won’t ‘get a hit every time’ but at least you’ve ‘come out to play.’ H
September 2012 13
PHOTO: JULIA MANZEROVA
Given today’s economic climate it is unfashionable to flaunt one’s privilege. There is a trend among young uppers to hide their class by making their accent more common. RP, or Received Pronunciation, used to be the Standard English accent. Cameron has it. Royal Shakespeare Company actors have it. But many people dislike RP because of its posh associations. A new accent is replacing it that reflects modern sensibilities: Estuary English*. On the spectrum of Standard English, Estuary is halfway between RP and Cockney. As an actress, I find these connections between class, speech and public perception fascinating. Reflecting on my acting career in America, I am embarrassed that I so confidently put ‘English accent’ on my resume. I mimicked the sounds alright but I never thought about class. I had no idea there were variations within the Standard English accent. Luckily the average American lacks a discerning ear for these distinctions. (My fellow Marylanders are forever asking my husband which part of Australia he’s from.) Now I am more attuned to the intricacies of English communication, I see accent as a character choice when playing English roles. With this newfound knowledge I am teaching our one-year-old son to say ‘serviette’ as his first word. Just to see what my husband will do. H
The American
The
Panerai
classic yachts
Challenge Words: Michael Burland Photographs: Sabrina Sully
T
From top: Sponsors flags flutter in the breeze – looks like a good day for sailing; Spirit, a new yacht built in the old ways with classic lines; The spinnaker’s up – go for it!; Raven, from scrap to sailing perfection
14 September 2012
here is sailing – and then there is sailing. Ratty from The Wind In The Willows was fond of saying that there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so worth doing as simply messing about in boats! He was right. But adding one little word adds an extra dimension: classic. Officine Panerai, makers of fine watches, get it. Classic yachts may not be quite as fast as their modern carbon fiber, snub-nosed, openbacked racing sistren (boats are, of course, feminine). But they are so much more classy. The modern, one can admire. But with many classics, the sheer fluidity and simplicity of the lines and the craftsmanship of the natural materials can simply leave one breathless. The Panerai
Classic Yachts Challenge (www. paneraiclassicyachtschallenge.com) is a series of regattas in which these thoroughbreds are not only admired but are put through their paces in their natural environment – the sea. As Angelo Bonati, Panerai’s CEO, told me, the company is passionate about supporting the venture, and they see many connections between the craftsmanship of the best watches and that of these lovely craft. Perhaps it’s also the history – Giovanni Panerai opened his first watchmaker’s shop in Florence in 1860. Luckily for readers of The American, the boats can be seen on both sides of the Atlantic throughout the season, from the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta in April to the Régates Royales in Cannes, France, September 25. If you’re in the States you can see them – and the crews aren’t a stuffy lot despite the multi-million dollar value of some of the boats so Classic yacht racing makes a great spectator sport, especially if you can get out on the water
The American
Eilean in her natural environment, and not a Durannie in sight!
you can also mingle and chat with them too – at the Corinthian Classic Yacht Regatta at Marblehead, the Opera House Cup, Nantucket, and the Museum Of Yachting Classic Yacht Regatta at Newport, RI. They’re held in August so plan for 2013 now. There’s just time to see these beautiful craft and their skilled and enthusiastic owners and crews at Minorca, Spain (August 28 to September 1), Imperia, Italy (Sept 5 to 9) or Cannes, France (Sept 25 to 29). Or catch the start of the Panerai Transat Classique 2012 Cascais, Portugal as they leave for Barbados (December 2). Among them are some of the most famous names in sailing history, including Pen Duick II, Moonbeam IV and The Blue Peter. We went to the British element of the series, the Panerai British Classic Week held at Cowes, Isle of Wight, one of the great homes of yachting. The pictures give some idea of the joy of classic yacht sailing. If you go, try to beg, steal or borrow some time on one of the boats as crew (if you know an owner). If not, attempt to grab a ride on a RIB (rigid inflatable boat) and get in amongst them. Massive fun, and you can get up close to some of the most spectacular boats. One special guest star was Eilean. Not a lady captain or owner, but one of the most gorgeous yachts ever created by one of the top boat designers of all time, William Fife III.
She’s a ketch, most famous for her role in Duran Duran’s 1982 video for Rio – you know, the one where our ‘heroes’ lounge about in Miami Vice suits being stalked by a painted lady. Just who was sailing the boat while they were posing? Eilean was discovered in 2007 in an advanced state of disrepair in Antigua and restored over two and a half years by Panerai. Don’t think that these precious craft are treated with kid gloves. Some owners come along to enjoy a sail with fellow enthusiasts. Others take the racing very seriously. Take Raven. Originally named Pandora of Rhu, she’s a 49 foot long piece of history and a lovely thing, built to take part in the 1940 Olympic Games
(which, of course, never happened). After racing in Scotland and England in the 1940s she was used for cruising and eventually ended up in North America in the late ‘50s. Like many of her peers she fell in to disrepair – “$250 worth of scrap metal and $200 worth of firewood” joked her owners, Richard Self and Mark Decelles, as they proudly showed us Raven in her current – perfect – state. But out on the water it was no holds barred as they carved through the waves. A beautiful thing that, after her reconstructive surgery, could have enjoyed a comfortable retirement. Instead she’s a multiple race winner. Just as her original owner and builder would have wished. H
September 2012 15
The American
TRAVEL
The French Wild West: Ile de Noirmoutiers
Why not make 2012 the year to discover the West Coast of France? Jane Bowles investigates
N
ovember 2012 sees the departure of the Vendee Globe, the solo round the world race, that leaves this stunning coastline every four years from the pretty seaside town of Les Sables d’Olonne. An amazing feat of man, or woman, and boat versus sea. See the next edition of The American when I catch up with three of the Vendee Globe skippers. So what does this coast offer? A dramatic coastline with sandy beaches, pretty white buildings topped with terracotta tiles, wrapped in deep blue sea. Visitors enjoy drama in the winter and beach fun in the summer. The ambience is instantly relaxing and one immediately feels ‘en vacances’. There are a number of small islands down the west coast but I was lucky enough to visit the Ile de Noirmoutiers which is connected to the mainland by bridge or walkway, with a causeway that is reminiscent of Gibraltar. If you choose to walk across you have to pick your time as it is tidal!
16 August 2012
Ile de Noirmoutiers is a small working island which is definitely worth a visit. Famous for its salt marshes (les marais salant), a tradition going back to Roman times, visitors can buy salt directly from the producers dotted along the marshes in their small huts. They sell salt suitable for cooking, as a condiment and even big bags to add to the bath to aid relaxation. In addition to the salt marshes a number of artisans and local craftsmen work in historic trades such as traditional wooden boat building and sail makers who make the huge sails for tall ships. There is no shortage of delicious seafood (fruits de mer) such as oyster and lobster. With many Parisians escaping the city to their seaside retreats on the island there are some very good places to eat. Try the Michelin starred La Marine in the fishing port. 33 year old Alexandre ‘a son of the island’, and his wife Celine offer fine cuisine in their two-part establishment.
The American
Choose between more formal modern, futuristic surroundings with clean lines, silver walls and modern seascapes or the more relaxed bistro environment next door. And try the coffee dusted mackerel ball and potato ice-cream – bon appetit! The main town of the island is Noirmoutiers, a bustling place with a superb food market selling local delicacies open on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Le Flan Maraichian made by Pascal Chaplain, a local pâtissier, from a recipe created by his grandmother, is a must. Don’t forget to sample the local delicacy – la pomme de terre primeur de Noirmoutier (new potatoes) There are five varieties – the most well-known being La Bonnotte which is small and slightly sweet. Visit in May and join in La Fête de la pomme de terre de Bonnotte. Whilst in the main town those interested in history should visit the 12th Century Chateau de Noirmoutiers to learn about the troubled history of the Vendee around the time of the Revolution, admire the collection of English porcelain and soak in the fabulous views from the turreted roof top. For those en famille there are lots of activities to choose from including cycling (The Vendee boasts 620 miles of cycling paths), sailing, walking and horse-riding. If you have children on board you might like to visit one of the most well-known tourist attractions in
France, la Puy du Fou – a historical theme park that takes you through the ages in all the gory detail. Voted the best theme park in the world, la Puy du Fou’s attractions include amphitheatres and timed performances throughout the day. See the Viking longship with swordwaving warriors rising out of the river before all-out war ensues in the village. Marvel at the chariot racing, sword fighting and brave lion and tiger tamers in the Roman amphitheatre. Be stunned by the birds of prey expertly handled by their falconers swooping from side-to-side, diving for food on the way – this one is not for the faint-hearted and certainly not a lunch stop! All this historical pageantry is set to music with a storyline that usually involves an element of love and romance. The sets are realistic and dramatic. For slightly less noise and gore visit the area of the park where artisans carry out their daily labours using tools from the period. Here you can watch candles being made, stone being crafted and leather being fashioned and you can pick up a momento from your visit. For those who’d prefer to visit a more sophisticated seaside town, still on the west coast of France, read the next edition of The American to learn about the fashionable town of Les Sables d’Olonne, find out about the Vendee Globe coming to town
and hear from the skippers of these formidable ocean going racing yachts. H
Getting there
Flights from Gatwick to Nantes with Flybe start at £44.99 each way including taxes and charges. www.vendee-tourism.co.uk www.rendezvousenfrance.com www.flybe.com
September August 2012 17
The American
Cookin’ with Gas in Bucharest By James Carroll Jordan
I
’ve been doing a crazy western/ horror film in Romania called Dead in Tombstone (more of which from ‘Actors Corner’ in a future issue). The producers have put us all up at the Athénée Palace Hilton; one of my favorite hotels. I’ve stayed here several times in recent years. The hotel invited me to a friendly meetand-greet cocktail party yesterday and there I met the hotel chef Lam (his real name is Chaiyasith Srichom); a real international man. He told me he was from Oz, and has a strong Australian accent, but he was originally from Bangkok. Lam also has a wonderful personality, and really knows his stuff. When we got to talking cooking, one of my favorite hobbies, he kindly invited me to a Master Culinary Cooking Class that he was giving in the very fine hotel restaurant Roberto’s. I readily accepted. See, I am one of those amateur cooks that will try anything. Any new recipe book is meat and gravy for me and the chance to attend his Master Class was an unexpected joy. I waltzed into Roberto’s around eleven and
18 September 2012
was delighted to see two American businessmen, John and Roger, who I had made friends with in the VIP Bar. I was also delighted to find eight gorgeous young Romanian girls in attendance along with the hotel Manager Linda Griffin and her Maltese co-manager André Borg. The first thing they did was plop paper chef hats on all of us and wrap cooking aprons round us. We introduced ourselves, but I quickly forgot most of the young girls names as I was too busy trying to hold my stomach in and look debonair whilst wearing a silly white chef’s hat. Lam along with his co-chef Bruno Visibelli (from Rome, Italy but he trained for four years in the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne in Switzerland) launched right in, telling us the very ambitious menu we were going to make. I had assumed that we were just going to watch and observe and perhaps have a taste of things here and there, but I was quickly disabused of that notion. We twelve were all going to make the different dishes ourselves with Lam and Bruno giving advice here and there. I have to list the menu now so you can be as duly impressed as I was. First, fresh Gnocchi din cartofi (that’s potato gnocchi in Romanian) – 70% mashed potato and 30% percent flour. “Any more and it would be too hard” said Lam. Pui Cacatore (Chicken Cacciatore; the theme for the day was Italian) Cartofi taranesti (Country roasted potatoes); we used new potatoes
and parboiled them for 10 mins, then gave them a good dose of olive oil and rosemary and roasted them for half an hour. Sos alfredo (Alfredo Sauce: prep time 10 min. cooking time 5 mins.) This was the base sauce for a cream sauce that we put chunks of chicken breast, onions and shrimp in, with a big dash of Marsala wine. Fantastico! Spaghetti cu scoici (Spaghetti with clams) – something I would never order myself, but turned out to be absolutely wonderful! A delightful combination of fresh spaghetti pasta, live clams, white wine, garlic, chili and chopped parsley. I made this one by myself! Biban de mare in crusta de sare cu usturoi, patrunjel si masline (yep, that is the whole Romanian title). It means salt crusted sea bass with garlic, parsley and olives (and a whole lot more stuffed inside). I had seen Keith Floyd do this dish but Lam did it with a different technique. Instead of just stuffing the bass with herbs, he also scored the sides of the fish, applied olive oil with parsley on both sides and then unlike Floyd who just covered his sea bass with a huge mound of salt, Lam had us separate a dozen eggs, beat the tar out of the whites and then mix a coarse salt and fine salt into it and cover the fish with that concoction. It was definitely a lot of work, but the result was amazing. Lam also cut two very thick sirloin steaks, and after putting salt and pepper and olive oil on them, grilled them on his fancy steak grill. Linda kept telling Lam to keep one of them rare as she liked it that way. He did and it was perfection. It was such fun cooking in a proper professional
kitchen with all the bells and whistles you could wish for. And it was all cooking with gas, which I miss as I have an electric hob at home. We finished it all off with Zabaglione with chopped fruit. I was wondering what we were going to do with the yolks left over from the sea bass, and now I found out. Add sugar to the yokes, and whisk them in a metal pan over a boiling pan of water, making sure not to let the water touch the pan holding the yokes. Lam added a pinch of cinnamon (which I love and he swears goes wonderfully with the Marsala wine that is also dashed liberally in.) All I can say is, ‘Wow!’ Well, that was our brief and we fell to it with gusto. There were also four or five different salads and plates of mozzarella cheese with tomatoes and basil, and a wonderful cheese that Bruno made me try called Burrata (a kind of runny mozzarella with a flavor to die for). Oh, and we made our own focaccia bread as well. On mine I used olive oil, olives, and sun dried tomatoes with lots of coarse salt and a bit of pepper. Linda threw in some rosemary on hers, and I took the hint and added some to mine as well. We were secretly chuffed that Lam and Bruno’s pre-made focaccia failed because the yeast (which goes in the mix as well) died when they left their prepared but unbaked bread on top of the roasting oven. It looked fine to me but not to two five-star chefs! Lam said that after the temperature goes over 40°, it kills the yeast. I nodded sagely at this tid-bit of culinary information and took another “slurp” of the white wine we were using for the Alfredo Sauce. I noticed John and Roger were doing the same (I really have no idea how Keith Floyd got through his shows).
It’s one thing to go to a fancy restaurant like Roberto’s and review it for The American, stagger home full and replete with great wines, then wait a day before you can get your brain in gear to write the review, but it is a whole other ball game to actually dive in and make fantastic dishes yourselves and get to eat it with wonderful wine from the Athénée Palace Hilton’s well stocked cellars. Romanian wine is unbelievable. One red was actually from Transylvania. I did copy Floyd’s technique of having a big “slurp” of whatever wine I was using on the dishes. The Marsala was just lovely by the way. I just wish I could have taken my good friend and fellow food critic Virginia Schultz and her young actress friend Maxine Howe with me on this unusual and challenging caper. Maybe next time girls… But if any readers of The American go to Bucharest, I highly recommend staying at the Athénée Palace and eating at Roberto’s. You won’t be disappointed. H
September 2012 19
The American
BOOK REVIEW
NUTMEG & CUSTARD By Marcus Wareing Reviewed by Virginia E Schultz
Marcus Wareing is one of my favourite chefs in London and his cookbook, Nutmeg & Custard, is a wonderful book to have especially if there is a sweet tooth significant other or children in the family. Of course, there are recipes for meat and fish lovers, and one I recently made for guests from the States is Marcus’ sticky sesame pork ribs.
RECIPE
STICKY SESAME PORK RIBS
12 large pork ribs 2 tbsp vegetable oil 2 tbsp sesame seeds
Marinade: 4 tbsp sesame oil, 2 tbsp golden syrup 4 tbsp clear honey, 8 tbsp soy sauce 3 tbsp peanut butter, Juice of 1 orange 2 cloves garlic, peeled & crushed 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce 75g fresh root ginger, peeled & grated 1 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder Combine ingredients for the marinade and mix well. Smother the ribs in it, cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 6 hours or preferably overnight. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C/375 degrees F/gas mark 5. Put the vegetable oil in a large roasting tin and place in the oven. Heat for 5 mins, then add the ribs. Return to the oven for 20 mins, turning after 10 mins. Add the sesame seeds, then bake for a further 3-4 mins until they have turned golden. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 mins. Serve.
20 September 2012
Marcus Wareing By Virginia E Schultz
M
y interview with Marcus Wareing started after actress Maxine Howe and I had lunch at his restaurant Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley. He is slightly smaller than he appears on TV and has the slim, athletic build of a man who does not waste time. Like our top chef in the States, Thomas Keller, he’s also handsome enough to play the part of a chef on the series Mad Men if the writers decided to write one in. Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley was originally Petrus, which he ran on behalf of Gordon Ramsay. Their parting was anything but pleasant and resulted in a bitter feud between the two men. But time has passed and with the problems Ramsay is experiencing with his father-in-law that hit the headlines recently, he is far more sympathetic towards the man who had been best man at his wedding. He wouldn’t be where he was today if it wasn’t for Gordon, he admitted. Gordon
taught him to question not only someone else’s dishes, but his own. “I didn’t like the direction the restaurant was going, however,” he went on. “And that was personal for me.” Marcus grew up in Southport, Lancashire and as a young man worked part time in his father’s fruit and vegetable business. Although he enjoyed delivering produce to shops and hotels, it didn’t influence him in becoming a chef. His mother’s Sunday roast was always overcooked because his father didn’t like to see blood in it, which sounds similar to the Sunday dinners I had as a young girl. Nor was he particularly fond of vegetables such as cauliflower, sprouts and broccoli. He has the reputation for never being completely satisfied with his cooking and constantly trying to improve. He’s also known to be determined and single-minded and believes success in any field doesn’t come overnight. “Too many young chefs want their fifteen minutes of fame on television and worry more about the hours they must put in and how many holidays they’ll have than learning their craft,” he
The American
told me, not hiding his disgust. Talent has a lot to do with it as well, as Marcus proved in his first job at the Savoy as a teenager. Just out of Southport Catering College it was a bit like being thrown into the deep end only knowing the doggy paddle. Eventually came Le Gavroche under Albert Roux where he worked with Ramsay as his guide. “The battle of the Berkeley” as it is sometimes called ended the friendship between the two men, although they did meet up at Number 10 not all that long ago, but it was no more than, ‘Hello Marcus,’ ‘Hello Gordon,’ before they moved on. His first fame, however, came as head chef at L’Oranger when he earned his first Michelin star at the age of 25, which proved tough as much was expected of him from then on. His wife Jane helps him in the back of house business in his restaurants. Unusual for a chef, he does enjoy figures, but his first and main priority is what goes out the doors of the kitchen. Although his family comes first, with twitter and facebook it’s hard to go anywhere without being seen and later having someone tweet to ask why the customers were spending all that money if the chef wasn’t in the kitchen. But, he emphasized, once he closes the door to his home, it is only his wife and kids. There was a time when he was known as Gordon’s protégée, but today there are some critics who say Gordon wouldn’t have gotten to where he is (or was) if it wasn’t for Marcus. He only has two stars for Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley when, in my eyes as well as Maxine’s, he deserves three. The restaurant is very expensive, but if you can afford it, you won’t have a better lunch or dinner anywhere in the UK. H
BOOK REVIEW
Two Greedy Italians Eat Italy By Antonio Carluccio & Gennaro Contaldo Quadrille Publishing, £20.00
I cannot tell a lie. I love Italian food perhaps better than any other nationality’s. Following the success of Two Greedy Italians on television, Antonio Carluccio and Gennaro Contaldo embarked on another excursion to explore Italy’s distinct and varied terrains and this latest cook book is the result of their journey. The recipes showcased come from both men, with side comments of advice on a number that may be slightly more difficult to make. I love courgette flowers and I happened to be passing through Harrod’s recently when I spotted them in the supermarket. Fortunately, after paging through the above cookbook I found this “Risotto con Gamberetti e fiori di Zucchini” by Contaldo.
Risotto with Prawns and Courgette Flowers (Serves 4) Around the coastlines of Italy it is not uncommon to enjoy risotto with seafood, especially in the Venetian lagoon. Risotto takes time until cooked al dente so be patient because this dish is worth it. I might add, I prefer the rice to be cooked slightly more than al dente, but that’s personal preference. 1.5 litres of vegetable stock 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 small onion, finely chopped 350g arborio risotto rice 50 ml white wine 200g small peeled prawns 1 small courgette, finely chopped 10 courgette flowers, roughly torn A handful of basil leaves, roughly torn
RECIPE Bring the stock to the boil in a saucepan and keep it at a low simmer. In a separate sauce pan, heat half the oil, add the onion and sweat until softened. Stir in the rice, coating each grain with the oil. Stir in the prawns and courgette. Then start to add the stock, ladle by ladle until each ladleful has been absorbed before you add the next.* Continue to do this for about 15 to 20 minutes until the rice is cooked al dente. About 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time, stir in the courgette flowers. Remove from the heat and beat in the remaining oil and the basil. Serve immediately.
*(This is important. Don’t add all at once)
September 2012 21
The American
DEGÒ E
ven though it was the third time I’ve been to Degò, I found it difficult to locate. It’s just off Great Portland Street and you must walk around the corner to get there, which is disorienting for someone like me who has no sense of direction. Fortunately, Maxine Howe, who was with me, does. As it was one of the rare warm summer evenings we had so far in London, we sat outside rather than going down stairs to the brightly coloured restaurant where I dined before. To be honest, I wouldn’t recommend doing this again. Sitting outside in cities like Verona, Florence or Venice in a large open square is a pleasure, but then there aren’t automobiles and trucks whizzing by a few feet away. Maxine started with Prosecco while I had a Bellini, my favourite cocktail, perhaps because it brings back memories of all the wonderful times I’ve enjoyed in Italy. With this we enjoyed a selection of warm bread rolls that we dipped into a
22 September 2012
4 Great Portland Street London, W1W 8QJ Tel: 020 7636 2207 Info@degowinebar.co.uk lovely olive oil they really should sell to their customers. And, to nibble on while we studied the menu, huge black and green olives. For our antipasti (first course), Maxine began with steak tartare (£14.50), coarsely ground – the Italian way, we were told – which she assured me was as good as she’s had anywhere in London. I ordered the scallops with hazelnut cream and Amarone apples (£12.00). I would definitely have them again. As I was driving, I continued to nurse my Bellini while Maxine sipped a lovely Chianti Classico Riserva. Deciding we had to have pasta, we shared the homemade fettuccine with tomatoes and burrata cheese (£11.50) that turned out to be the best dish
of the evening. For the main, Maxine enjoyed duck breasts with French beans that came medium rare as she prefers and a side order of ‘frangipane’ potatoes (£18.50) with a hint of lime that was a surprising but perfect match for the dish. My hake (£18.00), sadly, was slightly overcooked, although I did enjoy the artichokes and courgette flowers that came with it. Italian desserts are not usually my favourite, but I must admit I ate my pear and almond cake (£9.00) to the last delicious crumb. White chocolate and liquorice ice-cream with tobacco sauce and rum (£10.00) sounded unusual but Maxine, daringly, tried it. I’m not certain she’d have it again. At our waiter’s recommendation, we each had a small glass of Amarone wine to end the evening. Amarone is a type of Valpolicella wine made in the Veneto region using only the ripest grapes that are left to dry on straw mats and is similar to a French Sauterne. Next time I’ll have this instead of dessert.
We are pleased to announce that Francesco Mazzei, the rising star of Italian cooking in London, has been appointed as Consultant Chef at La Capanna Restaurant. His Head Chef is Claudio Milano and Davide Alberti is appointed as Sous Chef; both of whom have been working for him for a number of years.
We are pleased to announce that Francesco Mazzei, the rising star We are pleased to announce that “I am delighted to be associated with such an old and beautiful restaurant, now approaching its ofMazzei, Italian cooking in London, Francesco the rising star of Italian has 35th birthday. I am looking forward to introducing traditional Italian dishes cooked in the modern been appointed as Consultant cooking in London, has been appointed as style using the very best seasonal products sourced locally” Consultant Chefat at La Capanna Restaurant. Chef La Capanna Restaurant. Francesco Mazzei His Head Chef is Claudio Milano and Davide Alberti is appointed Sous Chef; His Head Chef is as Claudio Milani both of whom have been working for him and Davide Alberti is appointed forWe a number of years.to toto We areare pleased pleased announce announce that that We are pleased announce that as Sous Chef; both of Francesco Francesco Mazzei, Mazzei, thethe rising rising starstar of whom of Italian Francesco Mazzei, the rising star ofItalian Italian cooking cooking inhave London, ininLondon, hashas been been appointed appointed as asas been working for him cooking London, has been appointed Consultant Consultant Chef Chef at at LaatLa Capanna Restaurant. Restaurant. Consultant LaCapanna Capanna Restaurant. for aChef number of years.
CELEBRATIONS AND SPECIAL OFFER
Seasonal Celebration 2012
Special Offer
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Seasonal Celebration 2012
Christmas at La Capanna is an ideal way to reward employees, CELEBRATIONS CELEBRATIONS AND AND SPECIAL SPECIAL OFFER OFFER FORTHCOMING EVENTS CELEBRATIONS AND SPECIAL OFFER impress clients or celebrate the festive season with family and friends. Our exceptional food and service will delight your guests.
Special Offer
Francesco Mazzei
La Capanna is offering a great value for the new set lunch menu,
Seasonal Seasonal Celebration 2012 SeasonalCelebration Celebration2012 2012
from Monday to Saturday Set Lunch Menu – Three-course Menu at £25.00 La meal Capannaatpresents Three-course £18.50 La Capanna presents Party Menu – Three-course Menu at £32.00 (August and September) Christmas Christmas at La at Capanna La Capanna is an is an ideal ideal way way to reward to reward employees, employees, or Four-course Menu at £45.00 Capanna is offering a great value LaLa Capanna is offering a great value forfor Christmas at La Capanna is an ideal way to reward employees, impress clients or celebrate thethe festive season with family andand impress clients or food celebrate festive season with family Enjoy great and impress clients or celebrate the festive season with family and friends. OurOur exceptional food andand service willwill delight your friends. exceptional food service delight your the return of friends. Our exceptional and service for your an Exclusive Christmas Dayfood £85.00 Menu will delight guests. guests. Ian Gallagher guests. evening of Beautiful
Boxing Day £25.00 Menu to LaMenu Capanna Music together with a SetSet Lunch Lunch Menu – Three-course –asThree-course Menu Menu at at £25.00 £25.00 Set Lunch Three-course Menu at £25.00 NewMenu Years –Eve £90.00 Menu Frank Sinatra Party – Three-course Menu at at £32.00 PartyMenu Menu – Three-course Menu £32.00 Party Menu – Three-course Menu at £32.00 3 Course Dinner or or Four-course Menu at at £45.00 Four-course Menu £45.00 Friday 7th September or Four-course Menu at £45.00£49.50
Christmas Christmas Day Day£85.00 £85.00 Menu Menu Friday 19th October 3 Course Dinner FORTHCOMING EVENTS Christmas Day £85.00 Menu £49.50 Boxing Day £25.00 Menu Boxing Day £25.00 Menu Boxing Day £25.00 Menu New Years £90.00 Menu New Years EveEve £90.00 Menu New Years Eve £90.00 Menu
Special Special Offer SpecialOffer Offer
La Capanna is offering a great value for the new setset lunch the new lunch rat packmenu, ofmenu, Opera the newThe set lunch menu, To make a booking call us on An evening of great food and 01932 862121 from Monday toto Saturday from Monday entertainment or online at www.lacapanna.co.uk from Monday toSaturday Saturday
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Course Dinner ToTo make make a booking a3 booking call call us us onon To make a 862121 booking £75.00call us on 01932 862121 01932 01932 862121 online www.lacapanna.co.uk or or online at at www.lacapanna.co.uk or online at www.lacapanna.co.uk
La Capanna Restaurant – Address: 48 High Street, KT11 3EF. Tel: 01932 862121, www.lacapanna.co.uk La Capanna presents LaCobham, CapannaSurrey presents
FORTHCOMING FORTHCOMING EVENTS EVENTS FORTHCOMING EVENTS Enjoy great food and the return of
Private Parking Available
The rat pack of Opera
The American
Cellar Talk By Virginia E Schultz
Gin
J
uniper berries have a fascinating history. The Egyptians used the berries to treat tapeworm, the Greeks to increase physical stamina and in the 11th Century Italian monks used the berry to flavour crudely distilled spirits. However, the man credited with the invention of gin in 1650 was the Dutch physician, Franciscus Sylvius, and it was used to treat everything from kidney to gallstones and gout. Supposedly, English soldiers during the Eighty Years War took such a liking to the spirit before they went into battle the term Dutch Courage was born. By 1730 it was estimated that the average Londoner drank 14 gallons of gin a year, and that included children! In 1751 two prints were issued by English artist William Hogarth in support of what would be known
WINE OF THE MONTH Inniskillin Vidal IceWine 2002 (Expensive) Canada is known for its Ice Wines and Inniskillin Vidal is considered one of the best. Frozen grapes are hand picked after the temperature drops below -10° C. I enjoyed this one evening with my Canadian son-in-law, Bruce, and friends Nelly and Sevim. Pure, refined with apricot, tangerine and tropical fruit tantalizing the palate, followed by a touch of pineapple on the finish. Delicious!
24 September 2012
One of a pair of 1751 llustrations by William Hogarth (the more positive Beer Street is the other), Gin Lane suggests the evils of gin addiction. However, it can be enjoyed in moderation...
as the Gin Act. Designed to be viewed together, Hogarth portrays the inhabitants of Beer Street happy and nourished by native English ale and those living in Gin Lane being destroyed by their addiction to the foreign spirit, gin. Gin joints in the 18th century allowed women to drink beside men for the first time which many believed led to child neglect and prostitution and as a result gin became known as mother’s ruin. It’s thanks, however, to the British in India that gin became popular when they added it to a tonic containing quinine, which, it was believed, prevented malaria - gin masked the vile flavour. The drink was soon popular and it became known as ‘the gentleman’s drink’. All gins have juniper as a flavour base in their distillation, but it is the choice of botanicals that make a difference. The gin we drink today can include coriander, lemon peel, nutmeg, orange peel, angelica, and cardamom to name a few. Most fine gins contain at least six to ten botanicals. During warm weather, there are few more popular drinks than gin and tonic. Which gin to use, lemon or lime, proportion of gin to tonic, to stir or not to stir, can create debate, as my husband learned when we were first married. My father preferred to stir and always used lime and that’s the way I prefer it. Fortunately, my husband agreed... eventually.
The Perfect Gin & Tonic Recipe First clean and wash a tall slim glass. Then chill glass. Use a top English gin such as Gordon’s, Tanqueray or Bombay Sapphire Ice cubes frozen overnight and not a few hours before Fresh lime slices or wedges 2 oz dry gin 5 oz tonic water (I prefer Schweppes, others Fever-Tree). Fill the glass with ice cubes. Pour the gin over the ice which should crackle as the spirit hits the cubes. Then take a wedge of lime and moisten the rim with it. Fill glass almost to the top with tonic. Squeeze one wedge of lime into glass. Stir gently and thoroughly. Garnish with a lime wedge. Depending on your taste, the ratio of gin can vary. Mixologist Tony Conigliaro’s favored G&T method is slightly different: Chill a highball glass (in the freezer) Fill the glass (full) with blocks of ice Pour 50ml of Beefeater 24 Top with Fever-Tree tonic Finish with a ‘Horse’s neck lemon twist’ (one long spiral peel of lemon zest).H
Francesco Mazzei, the rising of Italian Project3:Sulgrave 1/4 USstar Ads 2012
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We We are pleased pleased tobeen announce that that cooking in London, hasto appointed asthat Weare are pleased toannounce announce Francesco FrancescoChef Mazzei, Mazzei, the the rising rising star star of of Italian Italian Consultant at La Capanna Restaurant. Francesco Mazzei, the rising star of Italian cooking cooking in in London, London, has has been been appointed appointed as as cooking in London, has been appointed as Consultant Consultant Chef Chef at at La LaClaudio Capanna Capanna Restaurant. Restaurant. His Head Chef is Milano and Consultant Chef at La Capanna Restaurant. ★★★ Davide Alberti is appointed as Sous Chef; His His Head Head Chef Chef isis been Claudio Claudio Milano Milano and both whom have working for and himand Hisof Head Chef is Claudio Milano Davide Davide Alberti Alberti isis appointed appointed as as Sous Sous Chef; Chef; for a number of years. Davide Alberti is appointed as Sous Chef; both both of of whom whom have have been been working working for for him him N O R Tfor H A Mhim PTONSHIRE both of whom have been working for for a a number number of of years. years. for a number of years.
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Set Set Lunch Lunch Menu Menu – Three-course Three-course Menu Menuatat at£32.00 £25.00 £25.00 Party Menu – –Three-course Menu SetParty LunchMenu Menu – Three-course Menu at £25.00 Party Menu – – Three-course Three-course Menu Menu at at £32.00 £32.00 or Four-course Menu at £45.00 Party Menuor Three-courseMenu Menuat £32.00 or–Four-course Four-course Menu atat £45.00 £45.00 or Four-course Menu at £45.00 Christmas Day £85.00 Menu Christmas Christmas Day Day £85.00 £85.00 Menu Menu Boxing Day £25.00 Menu Christmas Day£25.00 £85.00 Menu Boxing Day Day £25.00 Menu Menu NewBoxing Years Eve £90.00 Menu New NewBoxing Years Years Eve Eve £90.00 £90.00 Menu Day £25.00Menu Menu New Years Eve £90.00 Menu
Get married where the Stars and Stripes flies in the Offer depths of Special the Special Offer Special Offer English La Capanna is offering a great value for La La Capanna Capanna isis offering offering a a great great value value for for countryside the new set lunch menu,
La Capanna offering great value for the the new newisset set lunch lunch a menu, menu, Sulgrave Manor the new set lunch menu, Sulgrave from Banbury Northamptonshire Monday to SaturdayOX17 2SD UK from from Monday Monday to to Saturday Saturday Telephone: 00 44 (0)1295 760205 Three-course meal at £18.50 from Monday to email: enquiries@sulgravemanor.org.uk Three-course Three-course meal meal at atSaturday £18.50 £18.50 (August and September) www.sulgravemanor.org.uk (August (August and and September) September) Three-course meal at £18.50 (August and September)
To make a booking call us on To To make make01932 a a booking booking call call us us on on 862121 01932 862121 862121 call us on To make a booking or online at 01932 www.lacapanna.co.uk or or online online at at www.lacapanna.co.uk www.lacapanna.co.uk 01932 862121 or online at www.lacapanna.co.uk
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7thDinner September th £49.50 3Friday Course th th Friday October 33 Course Course Dinner Dinner Friday Friday19 19 19 October October £49.50 £49.50 £49.50 3 Course Dinner Friday 19th October “I am delighted to be associated £49.50 with such an old and beautiful restaurant, now approaching its
Friday 16th November 333Course Dinner Course Course Dinner Dinner £75.00 £75.00 £75.00 3 Course Dinner £75.00
“I th am delighted to looking be associated with such an old traditional and beautiful restaurant, now approaching its 35 birthday. I am forward to introducing Italian dishes cooked in the modern 35th birthday. am looking forward to introducing style using the Ivery best seasonal products sourced traditional locally” Italian dishes cooked in the modern style using the very best seasonal products sourced locally ” Cobham, La La Capanna Restaurant – Address: 4848 High Street, Surrey KT11 Tel: La Capanna Capanna Restaurant Restaurant –– Address: Address: 48 High High Street, Street, Cobham, Cobham, Surrey Surrey KT11 KT113EF. 3EF. 3EF. Tel: Tel:01932 01932 01932862121, 862121, 862121,www.lacapanna.co.uk www.lacapanna.co.uk www.lacapanna.co.uk Francesco Mazzei Private Parking Private Private Parking ParkingAvailable Available Available Francesco Mazzei
La Capanna Restaurant – Address: 48 High Street, Cobham, Surrey KT11 3EF. Tel: 01932 862121, www.lacapanna.co.uk
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11:4
The American
Chris Isaak
MUSIC
Calexico
Calexico
The American collective, based in Tuscon, AZ, bring their brilliant blend of country, indie rock and jazz to London’s HMV Forum on September 18th as part of their Europe wide tour – it’s the sole UK date.
Danny Schmidt
Beginning in Bristol on September 26th, the Austin, Texas-based Danny Schmidt will tour the UK performing his folk hits in locations including Plymouth, Liverpool, Barnsley, Swansea, Brighton and ending in London on October 16th.
The Gaslight Anthem
There’s a lot of expectation on the shoulders of The Gaslight Anthem who are touring in support of their fourth album. Handwritten, their first on Mercury Records, has been produced by Grammy Awardee Brendan O’Brien, best known for his work with Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and Incubus. Anthemic grunge? Stadiumcore? Call it what you will, this band are hot. Dates are October 15th and 17th London, Brixton Academy; 18th Manchester Apollo; 19th Glasgow Academy; 20th Birmingham Academy.
26 September 2012
LIVE AND KICKING Chris Isaak
Effortless cool, a beautiful country croon, humorous banter - it could only be actor and musician Chris Isaak. He’s here in October on the 2nd, Dublin, Ireland, The Olympia Theatre; 4th Manchester, Bridgewater Hall; 5th Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall; 6th Wolverhampton Civic Hall; 8th Bristol, Colston Hall; 9th London, Hammersmith Apollo.
“Strum A Chord”
Not a regular gig, but something for you to join in, while raising funds for a good cause. Coventry’s famed Ricoh Arena will play host to 3000 guitarists of all types, genres, levels of skill and ages who will gather together to attempt to break four world records: The Largest Electric Guitar Ensemble, The Largest Music Lesson, The Largest Air Guitar Ensemble, and The Most Guitar Amplifiers Used Simultaneously. It will also support ChildLine, the UK’s free, confidential helpline dedicated to children and young people. The fundraising target for the day is £250,000. Expect a host of guest star appearances, a competition for the fastest guitarist and three unsigned bands headed by
Stoneway, youngsters who have just won the nationwide Rock The House competition. Doors open at midday and entry is £30 which covers admission for the player and a non-playing guest and also contributes to the cost of a Marshall MS2 mini guitar amp which all the players can take home with them. Register at www. childlinerocks.org.uk. October 14th, Ricoh Arena, Phoenix Way, Foleshill, Coventry, CV6 6GE.
London Punk Festival
There’s great debate about who invented punk rock. Q. Was it born in the garage bands of the ’60s, the raucous noise of Stooges and MC5 Detroit, the studied cool of New York’s Blondie, Television and the Ramones, or the snotty, spit-covered, safety pinned British version? A. All of the above contributed in their own ways. The British contingent are still at it, as this selection proves: the three day festival boasts Ruts DC, The Damned, Glen (Pistols) Matlock, TV Smith (ex-Adverts), and Edward Tudor Pole (aka Tenpole Tudor, friend of the Sex Pistols and descendant of King Henry VIII) among many more. It’s at 229, Great Portland Street, London on September 28th to 30th.
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The American
Shearer (left) with fellow Spinal Tappers Michael McKean (center) and Christopher Guest, ‘Unwigged’
The American’s Michael Burland throws his prepared questions out the window and talks with Harry Shearer about... everything
Taking The Hint W
e meet at eleven, the perfect time to get together with a member of Spinal Tap. We could have had excellent coffee (me) and English breakfast tea with honey (Harry) at Julie’s Restaurant, a short hop from Harry’s London home in Holland Park, at 10 or half past. But this one went up to 11. We aren’t here to discuss Spinal Tap, though. Nor The Simpsons, in which Harry is the voice of Mr Burns, Waylon Smithers and many more. The reason for this interview is to delve into his new (and extremely funny) album, Can’t Take A Hint. The trouble is that Harry is such a polymath, a comedic renaissance man if you will, that conversations tend to take sidetracks. A show he did at the Edinburgh Festival called This is so NOT about The Simpsons, for example, which attempted to explain what America is all about. Or working with Mel Blanc and Abbot and Costello when he was a child actor. Or the black comedy based on President Nixon (Nixon’s the One
28 September 2012
which you’ll be able to see soon on Sky TV in Britain). Or his “ideal next project”, J. Edgar! The Musical, his show about the very private life of FBI supremo J Edgar Hoover. With all this in his past and present, I couldn’t help ask whether the people he meets only know him for one aspect of his work – as Ned Flanders, or Derek Smalls for example. “No,” Harry says, “that’s the entertaining thing. It validates my premise about show business – give people a variety of things and they will approach you for a variety of reasons – and you won’t get bored.” Is that why Harry looks so different in all his roles? “I try to – I’m very yellow in The Simpsons! I really like to disappear into my characters. That’s one of the causes of my dissatisfaction with being on Saturday Night Live – it’s a star building machine and the two do not mix. They wanted me to do whatever character I wanted to play, but not to look like him.” London is currently Harry’s main base. His British-born wife Judith Owen was doing a show, then her
father became ill, and now Harry is making the aforementioned Nixon show but, he says, “Left to my own devices, I’d spend more time in New Orleans. I love London, but New Orleans is where I vote! It’s a really special place for me. It’s the people. There’s great music and great food, it’s not as old as London by a long shot but it has three centuries of history and tradition, with a lot packed into those three centuries. And it’s unlike any other American city. It’s real – it’s a community. It takes the tradition of port cities that are welcoming to all comers and merges it with the Southern model of hospitality and makes a very distinctive brew.” Was Harry there during Katrina, I wondered? “Not during the flood. I got back two months afterward. It was still pretty bad – sparse electricity, no postal service, little telephone service, the main vehicles on the road were National Guard Humvees. It was strange. But the floods were a different event to the hurricane. That’s why I spent two years of my
The American
life making a documentary (The Big Uneasy) about the investigation, which concluded that the floods had almost nothing to do with the hurricane. It was a four decade long series of disastrous miscalculations and misjudgements by the agency that built the system that was supposed to protect us from hurricanes and instead almost destroyed us. Katrina didn’t come within 30 miles of New Orleans, the water didn’t come half way up the flood walls, but they weren’t built properly and the storm surge undermined them, so the walls toppled. We thought we were part of the United States and it turned out we were wrong. “It wasn’t all politics, the media did a damaging job because they turned an area-wide event which affected rich, poor, black, white, Asian and Latino people into one in which the only suffering you saw was of poor black people. It took the ‘Usness’ out and it became a story of ‘Them’. Ten miles to the east people were on their roofs for four days, no food and water, but they were working class white people. But there was no easy motorway off ramp to them – never forget the role of logistics! But in some ways there’s been a spectacular recovery. Your readers should go back there.
It hasn’t become Disneyfied, it’s still New Orleans. There’s been no money – the recovery has been one business, one home at a time – but there are hundreds more high quality restaurants than before, there’s been an explosion of activity in the arts community, the music clubs are back up and running, and there’s the
new Musicians Village.” ...Which leads onto the reason we’re here. Harry’s fourth album, Can’t Take a Hint. Unlike the others it isn’t structured around one topical theme like George W or the financial crisis. “This one is inspired by characters,” he says. The name, by the way, came from the fact that his first
A relaxed Shearer. Is he disillusioned? “No – I was never illusioned”
September 2012 29
The American
‘‘
Left to my own devices, I’d spend more time in New Orleans. I love London, but New Orleans is where I vote! It’s a really special place for me
has worked with everyone, from Pentangle and Peter Gabriel to John Martyn) on stand-up. Harry wrote it after a freezing Mardi Gras, including the striking line “Heat is only skin deep, but cold is to the bone.” In fact Harry wrote all the songs and on this album he’s joined by Dr. John on a paean to the Crescent City, Autumn in New Orleans, one of the ‘straight’ songs, Glee’s Jane Lynch on Like a Charity, the tale of a celebrity working for charity in Africa in front of the cameras, and the Fountains of Wayne who are ‘guest band’ on the self-explanatory Celebrity Booze Endorser. British jazzer Jamie Cullum sings the Rat Pack styled A Few Bad Apples in which army
The face behind a thousand characters – he disappears into every one © MICHAEL BURLAND
30 September 2012
‘‘
two albums were Grammy nominated, the third, he says between comically gritted teeth, “was not!” Harry credits Judith with ensuring the quality of the music, but he has always taken that part of the equation seriously. If the music’s good, he says, it might induce people to listen more than once, unlike some comedy records. And, he adds, “halfway decent music is more fun to play!” And if you can ignore the bitingly funny lyrics, these tracks all stand up as good jazz, soul, William Ørbit electro, Motown, whatever they attempt. A perfect example is Cold Is to the Bone, a frankly beautiful jazz tune sung by Charlie Wood, who also played piano, with genius Brit bassist Danny Thompson (who
grunts take the blame for military mistakes in the Middle East while Judith Owen, Mrs Shearer, becomes Sarah Palin on Bridge to Nowhere. Welsh comic Rob Brydon sings Macondo as the BP executive who famously wanted his life back after the Gulf Coast oil disaster. “The guests are all people I know,” says Harry. Elsewhere media mogul Rupert Murdoch and Joe the Plumber are lampooned. Shearer handles most of the bass playing and sings many of the songs, and he’s not afraid to offend in service of making a point. In Deaf Boys he sings “like Bing Crosby” on an a cappella funky Gregorian chant all about the priests in the United States, Britain and Italy who in one week were revealed to have molested 200 deaf boys. “I thought, this is a thing! One is a fluke. Two is a coincidence. Three is a trend.” A serious topic. Harry sums up his view of his chosen professions: “Satirists are serious people. And angry – I’m more angry than ever. Angry about the way this administration has turned out.” Is he disillusioned? “I was never illusioned. It was a brilliant historical moment, the first African American elected President of the United States, it was a landmark moment. But then you have to do the job and live up to what you led people to believe. As a satirist I tried to retain my professional skepticism. This has been amply rewarded in the intervening years!”H
The American
Coffee Break QUIZ 1 W hich British Airport
has the three letter code ‘LGW’?
2 W hich British Train
Station has the three letter code ‘WAT’?
3 W hich American Airport
has the three letter code ‘EWR’?
4 W hat is the UK’s tallest
mountain?
5 T he Shard in London
stands at 310m, but which of these landmarks is taller? The Statue of Liberty, The Empire State Building or The Space Needle.
6 W hat is Blue Peter, the
world’s longest running childrens TV show, named after?
7 T he defense of which
American fort in September 1814 inspired Francis Scott Key to write The Star Spangled Banner?
8 T he new cable car route
connecting Royal Victoria with North Greenwich in London is designated by which pattern on the London tube map?
9 W hich historical figure
is printed on the back of British £10 notes?
This Founding Father of the United States also designed an iron bridge in North East England. Can you name him?
10 Which Great American
writer was born on September 24th, 1896 in Minnesota?
11 Which Founding Father
of America designed the first Wearmouth Bridge in Sunderland?
12 W ho wrote the long-
est novel in the English language, Clarissa?
13 W hich West African
nation has coinage featuring the image of US Presidents?
14 W hich building in London
has a spire patterned with stars and stripes?
6 3
15 W hich US President
received an honorary doctorate from Oxford University in 1994?
16 W hich US President
turned down an honorary doctorate from Oxford University in 1855?
4 1 8 9 4
Answers to Coffee Break Quiz & Sudoku on page 65
6 3 8 1
2
17 W hich of these countries
also celebrates a ‘Labour Day’: New Zealand, Australia or Canada?
5
7 3 2 4 7 8 5
5
8 2 1 7
4
7
9 September 2012 31
Art s choice by Richard L Gale
William Morris, design for Chrysanthemum wallpaper, 1877 © WILLIAM MORRIS GALLERY
The William Morris Gallery Lloyd Park, Forest Road Walthamstow, London, E17 4PP www.wmgallery.org.uk
The William Morris Gallery has just completed refurbishment, with a new extension added. The gallery features over 10,000 objects, many relating to close collaborators, including Arts & Crafts architect Philip Webb and PreRaphaelite artists Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and both of those movements are reflected in designs, textiles, wallpapers, furniture, stained glass and ceramics found here, alongside work by Morris himself, a poet, designer, craftsman, retailer and social activist famous for his pattern designs. The art and collection of Frank Brangwyn (1867-1956) and design of Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo (1851–1942) are notably represented. Fretwork Chair, by Mackmurdo, 1885. The fretwork on this chair design foreshadows Art Nouveau and demonstrates the influence of William Morris. © WILLIAM MORRIS GALLERY
32 September 2012
P
erhaps seeking to recapture the public’s attention in the shadow of the ‘Summer of Sport’, some of England’s museums and galleries have opted for old favorites rather than the outright challenging, with a rash of Pre-Raphaelite connections on offer. Still, for those that consider the beauty and passion (both sensual and religious) of the Pre-Raphaelite movement to be as essential a part of the British experience as Shakespeare, there’s never been a better time to indulge. Flowing tresses at the ready, here we go...
Pre-Raphaelites – Victorian Avant Garde Tate Britain, Millbank London, SW1P 4RG September 12 to January 13, 2013
In their day, of course, the PreRaphaelite Brotherhood sent a shock wave through the art world. ‘Stuff the studio’ they cried (well, possibly), and headed for open country, nature, religious and quasi-religious subjects, vivid colours, instant critical rejection and public adoration. Now, their work is so familiar, so accepted that it’s easy to forget how reactionary the PRB outlook was. They are
Right: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Lady Lilith. Rossetti’s model for this work was Jane Morris, wife of William (see side column). © MANCHESTER CITY GALLERIES
here in abundance, over 150 paintings including John Everett Millais’ Ophelia, William Holman Hunt’s The Scapegoat and The Lady of Shalott, Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Found, as well as work by Ford Madox Brown, all reflecting an age caught between piety and the post-evolutionary revolution, in equal parts in thrall of church and nature, with social conscience never far away. However, there’s more than canvasses on display. This exhibition gives equal attention to the applied arts, the early development of the Arts and Crafts movement, and includes furniture and objects designed by William Morris‘s decora-
The American LAST CHANCE TO CATCH...
Yoko Ono, installation view, Yoko Ono: To The Light, Serpentine Gallery, London © 2012 JERRY HARDMAN-JONES
Yoko Ono: To The Light tive firm, reflecting the iconographic correlation of Arts & Crafts and Pre-Raphaelitism. You are as likely to find the embroidery of Jane and May Morris as you are to find Rossetti’s erstwhile models depicted in mythological settings. The exhibition visits Washington DC next year.
Love and Death: Victorian Paintings from Tate Galleries 12 & 13, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery September 8 – January 13, 2013
Tate Britain’s show doesn’t mean every significant Pre-Raphaelite work will be in London this September. Aside from a gallery of PRB work always to be found at Manchester Art Gallery, eleven paintings from
Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale, June is Dead © TRUSTEES OF THE ROYAL WATERCOLOUR SOCIETY
John William Waterhouse, The Lady of Shalott, 1888 © TATE, LONDON 2012
Tate’s national collection head to Birmingham this Autumn, including John William Waterhouse’s famous depiction of The Lady of Shalott (1888). These works will be complemented by Birmingham’s own collection, include Frederic Leighton’s The Bath of Psyche and Alma Tadema’s Pheidias and the Frieze of the Parthenon.
A Pre-Raphaelite Journey
Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk Until at least November The Lady Lever Art Gallery has been celebrating painter, designer and illustrator Eleanor FortescueBrickdale (1872–1945) since May, but this seems like the moment to mention one of Pre-Raphaelite art’s criminally overlooked contributors, oft-regarded as the last of the PreRaphaelites. Her devout Anglican faith and love of nature is evident in her art, and this is the first notable exhibition of her work since a gathering at the Ashmolean in 1972.
The Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, London W2 3XA www.serpentinegallery.org To September 9 The “I might not know much about art, but I know what I like” crowd probably don’t like Yoko Ono much, but while cynics might find an easy target in conceptual artists, sneering that they are somehow ‘getting away with it’, Ono’s art is never less than honest. Ono was established as an artist long before meeting John Lennon (they reputedly met at one of her London exhibitions). Perhaps the celebrity coupling blunted the broader public appreciation of her artistic influence, but Ono has never shied from their association, see John’s face amongst those in #smilesfilm, a large-scale participatory project hoping to capture a global anthology of the human face. This exhibition is more than objects on plinths, and in her first exhibition in a London public institution for over a decade, the artist, film-maker, poet and musician presents new and existing installations, films and performances.
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The American IMAGES OF THE MONTH
Pablo Picasso, Portrait of Bibi la Purée. 1901, oil on panel. This striking (okay, scary) face is that of Bibi la Purée, famous actor turned vagabond in turn-of-the-century Paris. This rarelyseen portrait by the 20-year old Picasso is on display at the National Gallery. www.nationalgallery.org.uk © PRIVATE COLLECTION 2012
David Deal, National Anthem, Butte, Montana, 2000
By Way of These Eyes The Hyland Collection of American Photography The American Museum in Britain, Claverton Manor, Bath, BA2 7BD Until October 28
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Kate McGwire, Wrest. This pleasing ouroboros of coils is part of Unnatural-Natural History: From Feathers to Folklore, on at the Royal West of England Academy, Bristol (until September 23), where the beauty of the natural world is captured and transformed by an array of international artists. www.rwa.org.uk © RWA PRESS, PHOTO BY TESSA ANGUS COURTESY OF ALL VISUAL ARTS
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hristopher Hyland is, among other things, a designer and provider of sumptuous fabrics, publisher of Hyland digital magazine, and enthusiastic sailor, but he has another great passion - photography, and his collection of great American photographic art. This exhibition is a superb reason to go (or return) to the American Museum. Among the photographers displayed are Edward Steichen (18791973), Edward Weston (1886-1958), Paul Strand (1890-1976), Andreas Feininger (1906-1999), Brett Weston (1911-1993), Joyce Tenneson (b. 1945), Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989), Shelby Lee Adams
(b. 1950), Sally Mann (b. 1951), Herb Ritts (1952-2002), Thomas Barbéy (b. 1957), John Dugdale (b. 1960), and David Deal (b. 1970). A broad spread of eras and styles, but his collection, says Hyland, “represents in general the robust and dynamic spirit of American optimism in the twentieth century”. Hyland also commissions contemporary photographers and one of these, Bill Armstrong, is exhibited here. After being invited to bring the exhibition to the American Museum by its director Dr Richard Wendorf, Hyland decided to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee by commissioning Armstrong
The American
(coincidentally born in the Queen’s accession year, 1952) to produce a triptych portrait which portrays her as a child, in a recognizable ‘stamp image’ of middle age and in her mature years complete with Corgi dog. Armstrong’s work blurs the expected image, but the process, Hyland told me, “is much more complicated than you’d think. It’s not just photographs out of focus. For a hundred years people have been asking themselves, how do we deal with abstract photography?” Armstrong is at the forefront of that genre. Hyland is a talented photographic artist in his own right, exploring spirituality and change. His Transformation series depicts in seven images (one pictured here) an individual who in real life is heavily tattooed gradually being covered in ink, portraying a spiritual journey and the way that perception can deceive - the final image of this initially terrifying vision, in which the subject is completely covered, shows a vulnerability through the eyes. The images have been selected for their visual impact rather than historical importance. What does Hyland think makes the collection special? “Its seeming disconnection from one image to the next, that upon further examination and thought has an inevitable unity. It has been assembled by a person with a lifetime of aesthetic experience.” Who does he believe to be the most important American photographer? “Edward Weston is probably the seminal 20th Century American photographer.” (His Nautilus Shell is in the exhibition). And if he could only keep one photograph from this exhibition? A long pause... “Sleeping Cupid by Robert Mapplethorpe, in which an exhausted Cupid looks up at a square white light. He is a divisive figure, but this recognizes the divine. He told me once it was his favorite, and it’s mine too. It was the photograph that he looked up at as he died.” H
Above: Bill Armstrong (b. 1952), Triptych Portrait of Queen Elizabeth, 2012. Also on show are his The Last Supper and Olympians
Below: Christopher Hyland (b. 1947) Composition II, Transformation series, 2009 Giclée print, 76.2 x 50.8 cm, 30 x 20 in
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The American
Reviewed by Philip Alderton and Virginia E Schultz
Battlefields of Honor: American Civil War Reenactors Mark Elson (photos), Jeannine Stein (text) Merrell, hardcover, 176 pages, £25 Every weekend, thousands of people abandon the 21st Century to try to accurately recreate the events of the American Civil War, from perfecting military drill and firing muskets to eating period rations. With 230 vivid photographs taken at events both in the USA and in Britain, this book brings their passion for history to a wider audience. All aspects of reenacted Civil War life are captured in these pages, from battles with massed ranks of infantry and cavalry to the minutiae of camp life and men posing for formal portraits. Women and civilians are not excluded either: many reenactments are open to families and the roles they portray are just as important at recreating the past as the military impressions. In the accompanying text, participants explain what the war means to them and why they seek to relive it. The pictures themselves are a mixture of modern digital photographs and wet plates created
36 September 2012
using Victorian techniques. Using the period methods really adds an additional layer of realism that today’s technology cannot capture: it is very easy to momentarily believe that these tintypes are 150 years old, and that the ghostlike eyes of the subjects gazing out from the page come from another era. What these images cannot capture is the sheer noise and confusion of battle or the lingering smell of gunpowder. Nor, of course, can reenactments accurately portray the true horror of war. Yet as the interviews in the book make clear, reenactors feel that by recreating the past, they are not only having fun and educating the public but also honouring those in whose name they reenact. Reviewer Philip Alderton is a member of the British reenactment group the Southern Skirmish Association (www.soskan.co.uk).
The Au Pair By Janey Fraser Arrow Books 2012, £6.99 For all the “yummy mommies”, whether career or stay-at-home women, past or present, this will
either revive pleasant memories or nightmares you’ve been trying to forget. When Jilly finds money is tight, she decides to open an au pair agency (which anyone, it seems, in the UK can do). What she didn’t expect was a lovely and determined French girl, Marie-France, to sign up. Unknown to Jilly, 20 years ago, Marie-France’s mother had been an au pair in the same town and she is looking for her father, John Smith. Unfortunately, that isn’t his name and she has quite a few misadventures finding him. Of course, there are the other members of the au pair mafia who either have you laughing out loud or thinking in horrified silence, ‘Oh, I remember’. A fun and delightful read that goes quickly despite its 500 and some pages. (Janey Fraser also writes under the heading of Sophie King). – VS
Marc Newson – Works (Art Edition) Hardcover with leather inlay, in a Micarta slipcase. Taschen, 610 pages, £3,500 Marc Newson has designed everything from chairs to restaurants and even a spaceship. This Australian industrial designer is, undoubtedly, the most acclaimed and influential designer of his generation. This comprehensive tome catalogues everything from his early pieces such as the record breaking Lockheed Lounge to timepieces and jewellery. Time magazine included him in their 100 Most Influential People in the World. After reading of his achievements one can understand why. This hardcover Art Edition, limited to 100 copies, with leather inlay, is written in English, French and German. There is also The Collector’s Edition (Nos. 101–1,100) numbered and signed, each in a linen covered slipcase for a mere £650. – VS
The American
The Laundry Man
The American talks to Ken Rijock, the money launderer who became a hunter of drug criminals
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en Rijock has written an exciting thriller based in the cocaine fuelled drug trafficking world of 1980s Miami, with a likeable protagonist – a lawyer who becomes involved in laundering money for drug traffickers – a driving plot with a few good twists and swerves along the way, believable and (in many cases) attractive characters, and a light writing style full of humor. But there’s a difference between Rijock’s and other crime thrillers. This one’s true. As I read The Laundry Man I would catch myself thinking, aren’t these characters supposed to be the bad guys? Did Ken feel the same at the time? “No – I considered we were the good guys! I never thought that the personal use of drugs should be
a felony, I was trying to make some changes in the system. All the professionals were doing cocaine all night and working in the day. It was after crack cocaine came out that I realized hard drugs are much too dangerous. They kill people. But America’s fallen out of love with drugs. Now all the cocaine is going to the EU.” Ken’s accomplices all seem pretty nice. The nastier individuals – Columbian cartel and Mafia members – are peripheral. “Well, I was choosy about my clients,” explains Ken. I didn’t want to be put in fear for my life. I fell into laundering money for drug traffickers accidentally. I meet a guy named André (all the names have been changed), a Vietnam veteran like myself and he’s a liaison between Colombians moving drugs and Americans and Cubans who are distributing them in the US and Canada. He becomes my best friend, I meet his friends and all of a sudden I become their lawyer. That becomes handling their cash – I learned to be a money launderer on the job.” Coming back from Vietnam, did Ken need extra thrills in life? “Well, being a bank lawyer is an extremely boring job...” laughs Ken. “It was a heady period. Ronald Reagan was president, interest rates were at 17%, lots of foreign money was coming into the States. 100,000 Cubans arrived on the boat lift. Miami was a dynamic but dangerous place and the law enforcement agencies couldn’t deal with
the narcotics wave - it was out of control. But it was never about the money – it was about the risk.” The crazy plot is helped along when Ken meets Monique, a police officer who had been at Bible College with André and they become lovers, all adding to the edginess and paranoia. Bible College? “Yes, as a matter of fact André is presently a minister in central Florida!” And the others? Ken says, with a wry smile, “The smarter ones got out with their money and became successful business people and power brokers. The rest got arrested, were killed, or overdosed.” Perhaps inevitably the house of cards collapsed when a couple of Ken’s associates were arrested and gave evidence against him. A possible 25 year sentence was reduced to two when he assisted the investigation. That was 22 years ago. Since then Ken has jumped the fence and become one of the foremost experts helping the DEA and police improve their methods and catch other money launderers. Is that enough of a thrill? “It’s great identifying someone who’s trying to launder money and interdicting it and seeing them go to jail, or get thrown out of their bank. I’ve lectured in over 100 countries to law enforcement people. A lot of it is online now, but I’ve done undercover work. It’s still fun.” H
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The American
THEATER PREVIEWS Right: Simon Russell Beale, Ben Whishaw, Dame Judi Dench, Daniel Radcliffe, Sheridan Smith, David Walliams, and Jude Law ... at £10 a seat?
Michael Grandage Presents... Noel Coward Theatre www.michaelgrandagecompany.com From December 1, 2012 to February 15, 2014 We’ll be telling you more about each of this season’s five plays as they approach, but over the next 18 months, the Michael Grandage Company will be offering over 100,000 seats at £10 to see a host of stars in action (see photo caption above) in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry V, Peter and Alice, and The Cripple of Inishmaan. It begins with Simon Russell Beale’s appearance in Peter Nichols’ awardwining comedy Privates on Parade. If you ever thought taking the whole family to the West End is a little pricey, this seems a dream offer.
The Mousetrap 60th Anniversary (UK Tour) www.the-mousetrap.co.uk September 11, 2012 to June 16, 2013 There are several tours to mention this month, and the big news is that you don’t need to get to London to enjoy the world’s longest-running stage production, as Agatha Christie’s stage whodunnit marks its 60th year by taking to the road (don’t worry, it’s still at St Martin’s Theatre as well). The tour will visit over 30 venues, beginning in Canterbury on September 11, and stretching from Aberdeen’s His Majesty Theatre to Truro’s Hall for Cornwall.
Murder on the Nile (UK Tour) www.kenwright.com Until November 10, 2013 Kate O’Mara, Mark Wynter and Robert Duncan are among the TV stars appearing in the ongoing UK tour of another of Dame Agatha’s most celebrated murder mysteries. September dates for Bill Kenwright’s production of Death On The Nile include stops in Windsor, Oxford, Torquay, Tunbridge Wells and Norwich, with Rhyl, Coventry, Sheffield, Aberdeen, Dublin and Poole to follow.
Great Expectations (UK Tour) Jonathan Pryce Various, UK www.greatexpectationstheplay.com September 12 to November 10
As the culmination of the bicentenary of Charles Dickens, a new stage adaptation of one of his best loved novels, Great Expectations, begins a national tour, prior to London’s West End. After the Richmond Theatre, it visits Woking, Malvern, Brighton, Birmingham, Darlington, Aylesbury and Aberdeen. Left: Neil Salvage as Mr Paravicini, Timothy Dewberry as Giles Ralston and Georgina Sutcliffe as Mollie Ralston in Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap.
38 September 2012
The American
October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012
TERIX611
GORE VIDAL
: AS OTO
If musicals based around worldclass rock and pop are your thing, you’ll soon be spoilt for choice. As well as Queen-inspired We Will Rock You at the Dominion and Abbafest Mamma Mia relocating to the Novello September 6 to make way for Beatles-themed show Let It Be at the Prince of Wales Theatre, we now have confirmation that Spice Girls musical Viva Forever begins its run at the Piccadilly Theatre November 27, with a story by TV funnywoman Jennifer Saunders connecting the dots between the ‘girlpower’ groups gaggle of hits. Forgive us though if we’re a little more excited by the approach of Green Day-themed musical American Idiot. Already a Tony Award-winner on Broadway, the tour begins October 9 at Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre, before visiting Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, Manchester, and Birmingham, reaching London in December. www.americanidiotthemusical.co.uk www.vivaforeverthemusical.com www.letitbelondon.com
OBITUARY
PH
Viva Forever, American Idiot, Let It Be: Pop-based Musicals highlight Autumn arrivals
E
ugene Luther Gore Vidal was a controversial writer known as much for his caustic wit as for his novels, screenplays, and Broadway plays. He was part of the last generation of American writers who served during World War II, along with J. D. Salinger, Kurt Vonnegut, Norman Mailer and Joseph Heller. Myra Breckinridge was his most highly regarded social novel. Vidal’s grandfather was Senator Thomas Gore of Oklahoma, known for his strong personal and political opinions. Always interested in politics himself, Vidal ran for political office twice, losing both times. His most controversial novel, The City and the Pillar (1948) which featured homosexuality, outraged critics and the public. He, however, rejected the terms ‘homosexual’ and ‘heterosexual’, claiming most individuals had the potential to be pansexual. Screenwriting credits included the historical drama Ben Hur (1959), winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture and in which he claimed he wrote a ‘gay subplot’. In a world he would have created, he might have been president or king. Tall, handsome and aristocratic in voice and bearing, he outraged many by his contempt for those in public office as well as his criticism of the literary establishment. His public arguments with Mailer, William F. Buckley, Jr. and Truman Capote, his mocking of religion and prudery, and opposition to the wars in Vietnam and Iraq enlivened television and many considered him an independent thinker in the tradition of Mark
Twain and H. L. Mencken. Vidal’s prediction of the fall of democracy, the decline of America and the destruction of the environment infuriated politicians; yet, at the same time he wrote of ‘the ancient American sense that whatever is wrong with human society can be put right by human action’. Vidal admired the wisdom of Montaigne, the imagination of Italo Calvino, the insight of Henry James and Edith Wharton but detested contemporary writers Thomas Pynchon and John Barth, and likened Mailer’s views on women to Charles Manson, resulting in Mailer allegedly head-butting him backstage at The Dick Cravett Show. His outspokenness on television and controversial articles may well have hurt his reputation as a novelist. Vidal never married and for decades shared a villa in Italy with companion Howard Austen. He was an insider-outsider who described himself as a ‘gentleman bitch’. His career spanned seven decades and also included numerous essays on literature and politics, short stories, dozens of television plays and film scripts and three mystery novels written under the pseudonym Edgar Box. In his appearances on television and talk shows, he, along with Mailer and Capote, held the public attention in the same way that, sadly, audiences now watch reality programs in the States and the UK. – Virginia E Schultz
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THEATER REVIEWS
Heartbreak House By George Bernard Shaw • Chichester Festival Theatre • Reviewed by Jarlath O’Connell
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he Chichester Festival Theatre, now in its 50th year, is a jewel in the crown of British Theatre and is currently on an artistic high. Inaugurated by Laurence Olivier in 1962, it was from here that the National Theatre grew, with the first productions transferring directly to the Old Vic. Since then its March-September seasons have produced a remarkable number of West End transfers and it deservedly gets national and international attention.
Often chided at times for playing it safe (its audience demographic skewing on the old side) or being too star-laden, it has never really lost the lustre of the Olivier years and every great British actor and many a Hollywood star has enjoyed a summer sojourn in West Sussex. 49 years after his debut here, Sir Derek Jacobi returned this summer to give us his Captain Shotover in this solid but uninspired production. It has a lot of Chichester trademarks, great casting, solidly lavish sets (by Stephen Brimson Lewis) and a faithful approach to the text. Shaw’s play, written in 1916, is an angry indictment of a feckless leisured class as they drifted towards the apocalypse. It might today seem an historic artefact but many
of his accusations continue to hit home with disturbing accuracy. He railed, after all, against rule without conscience and a country governed by an unholy alliance of business and the state, enforced by violence both at home and abroad. It’s not just chiffon gowns and Chekhovian ennui. The play is best in the first act when the allegorical weight of the piece is less pronounced and we can delight in his sharply observed wit. Shaw’s plays often sink under exposition as multiple characters have to be introduced and plot points set up. Here, Richard Clifford’s direction falters. Pace rather too sluggish and dialogue played for meaning rather than effect. All this bunch do “go on”, mostly talking nonsense, and the trick is to give it a lightness of touch. It does provide a treasure trove of great parts although here Jo StoneFewings as Randall, misjudges it and slips over into broad boulevard farce.
Derek Jacobi (Captain Shotover) and Fiona Button (Ellie Dunn) in Heartbreak House PHOTO BY JOHAN PERSSON
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Shotover, an old sea captain steeped in booze and melancholy, presides over this house of strays. Twinkling like a fox, Jacobi is in his element, rushing on, unleashing a bon mot and quickly disappearing again. His flighty daughter Hesione invites a catalogue of people for a country weekend including young Ellie Dunn (Fiona Button) who is in love with Hesione’s cad of a husband. Raymond Coulthard sparkles in the part: “Very few women can resist Hector, he is rather splendid” admits Hesione. Emma Fielding looks splendid too, like she stepped out of a Rossetti painting, but is curiously underpowered as Hesione, a part crying out for some star wattage. Ellie is the conscience of the piece and her decision to eschew romance and marry the dull plutocrat Boss Mangan upsets the cart. Trevor Cooper is wonderfully awkward and chippy as the self-made man, a fish out of water amongst this set. As in Chekhov, everyone is in love with someone else. In the midst of all this, Hesione’s estranged sister (the stately Sara Stewart) returns from the colonies and is promptly ignored. Now Lady Utterword, she despairs of everyone’s inability to behave properly and boasts that her husband could sort things out if only given “a good supply of bamboo to bring the British native to his senses”. Shaw’s points about the selfabsorption of all these characters, no matter what their class, as the world descends into the mindless militarism of WWI, were well made and the piece sparkles with wit, but here the stylistic contrasts of the piece don’t totally gel.
PHOTO © FRANCIS LONEY
The American
Curtains Book by Rupert Holmes • Music by John Kander and Fred Ebb • Original book and concept by Peter Stone • Landor Theatre, Clapham, London • Reviewed by Jarlath O’Connell
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hink of Kiss Me Kate crossed with Murder She Wrote with a soupçon of All About Eve and you’ve got the backstage-whodunnit-musical Curtains. And if you think that’s a rich mix, then throw in a show-within-ashow which is a cowboy pastiche of Robin Hood and you end up with a seriously over-egged pudding. This is the show which during its writing lost its book writer Peter Stone and its lyricist Fred Ebb. Enter Rupert Holmes to doctor the script and finish the lyrics with John Kander. Of course with a back catalogue as stunning as theirs, Kander and Ebb can be forgiven a little indulgence and this is certainly what we have here. Premiered in LA to poor reviews it moved to Broadway in 2007 where the reviews were no kinder, but it ran for a solid year thanks to a Tony winning turn by David Hyde Pierce (Niles from Frasier) in the lead. It is gloriously creaky and at times great fun. Robert McWhir’s cast of 20 create magic in this postage stamp
sized venue and designer Martin Thomas uses ropes, pulleys, scrims and even half a proscenium arch to recreate this backstage world. Robbie O’Reilly’s witty choreography in these confines is fearless, particularly the Act One climax Thataway. The ambition of the Landor’s musicals continue to amaze. It is 1959 and opening night of a Boston try-out and the movie star lead is trying everyone with her lack of talent. At a curtain call she gets poisoned and expires, causing one wag to lament “The skies are blue, her lips are too”. Enter Lt. Frank Cioffi (the amiable Jeremy Legat) of the Boston PD who quarantines the company in the theatre to solve the mystery. Being star struck he plans to relish this case and promptly falls for one of the leading ladies. Two more deaths ensue and it soon resembles Murder on the Orient Express. It’s packed with theatrical archetypes: the brassy Jewish producer (who wails the song It’s a Business),
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The American PHOTO © FRANCIS LONEY
her rat of a co-producer husband called Sidney Bernstein, her wannabe ingénue daughter and the composer and lyricist pair whose romantic entanglements keep them tied to this turkey. They’re not the only ones, as Cioffi reveals that all the cast are under some obligation to Sidney. The first act is the best as it wallows in backstage bitchiness notably led by the English (of course) director, played by Bryan Kennedy, superb in major swishy mode. When named as a suspect he tartly replies “Well, it’s an honour just to be nominated”. The number What Kind of Man bemoans the existence of critics and Show People is a paean to theatre folk, so corny it could be an off-cut from Jerry Herman. Musically, the piece isn’t shy about reheating tunes from the writers’ earlier hits. By Act Two the piece drowns under the weight of multiple characters and too many plot points to resolve and Cioffi stages set pieces in the hope of getting characters to reveal motive. This ends up resembling one of those episodes of Poirot, where the suspects are all gathered together in one room for the big reveal and he bores ‘em to death. One can see why it took its time crossing the Atlantic but given a production of such gusto, it is still worth checking out.
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MOVIE REVIEW
Leave It On The Floor L
eave It On The Floor was inspired by Jennie Livingstone’s 1990 documentary Paris is Burning which chronicled the ball culture of the NYC African American and Latino gay and transgender men. The film documented the origins of ‘vogueing’, a dance style in which competitors posed in glamorous positions as if being photographed on the cover of Vogue magazine. One year later, Madonna released her number one song Vogue, bringing further attention to the dancing style. Leave It On The Floor opens with handsome young Brad (Ephraim Sykes) being forced to leave home after his cold, unfeeling mother finds gay pornography on his computer. Not long after this, Brad finds himself in the wonderland of the LA gay ball scene. Here he becomes the love interest of statuesque Princess Eminence (Phillip Evelyn) and gentle feminine Carter (Andre Myers) and this love triangle forms the background of this musical narrative. The dance numbers, brilliantly choreographed by Frank Gatson Jr., Beyonce’s choreographer, are rendered by an exceptionally talented group of male dancers. One number taking place at the funeral of Eppie Durall (James Alsop) is especially
moving when house mother, Queef Latina (Barbie-Q) and her group get into a song battle with Eppie’s family over his sexual identity. Barbie-Q, who heads up the House of Eminence and has most of the best lines, slips between a male and motherly female self that should have him up for an Academy Award. Director, writer and producer Sheldon Larry’s efforts are well rewarded by the dazzling and sparkling cast. – Virginia E Schultz Leave It On The Floor is released on DVD/BluRay this coming month.
MOVIE OF THE MONTH Dredd 3D (Certificate 18)
Dirty Harry-tinged sci-fi lawman Judge Dredd is dragged to the big screen a second time after Stallone lent the graphic novel hero a face in a derided ’90s outing. This time, the R-rated Dredd sees Karl Urban don the helmet (and not show his face) in an Alex Garland script that has Judges Dredd (“judge ... jury ... executioner”) and Anderson tracking down drug baroness Ma-Ma (Lena Headey, Game of Thrones) in a brutal, underlit dystopia. – Richard L Gale
The American
US ELECTION 2012 The Electoral College says it’s Obama's to lose, reports The American’s political analyst Sir Robert Worcester
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he national tracking polls are static, around 45%/47% one way or the other, and have been since the Republicans decided last Spring that Mitt Romney was their candidate. The presidential approval follows the voting intention, nationwide. I don’t know why so much editorial attention is devoted to it. As I say, watch the electoral college, not the horse race. Look at the key swing states, especially those with large populations which decide the coming (and every) US presidential election. l promised in July that I would look at the demographics of the electorate, comparing current ‘Likely Voters’ (‘LV’ as they’re known in the trade) to the exit poll results, massive surveys taken on election day as real voters come out of the polling stations. Time after time, for years now, they’ve been uncannily accurate in both the USA and the UK. These exit polls register not only how people voted (or say they did, if they tell, and most folks do), but other data that, even if they won’t confirm how they did vote, can be used to extrapolate how they were likely to have voted. The proof is in the pudding: most eve-of-pollingday polls, and most exit polls, get it about right if not spot on, within a few percent state by state in the US and the seat split in the UK’s
parliamentary system. They tell us today how the candidates are doing and how their standing with the electorate compares to the last time they paired up.
The Key States
To the key states, narrowed now to our old friends Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, with the ‘kickers’ Virginia, the Carolinas and, would you believe, New Hampshire (I don’t, I expect Obama to take it again). In 2004, the candidate who won two of these key three states won the White House, and the other went home. The map tells the story,
courtesy of ‘National Polls’ (www. nationalpolls.com, my companion daily dose along with RealClearPolitics’ www.realclearpolitics.com). To remind you from my July article, the key states are where it counts. When you look at the map of the USA coloured red for the Republicans and blue for the Democrats, there’s a sea of red across the southern, mid-western and mountain states. They're geographically greater, but in terms of electoral votes, based on electors (those eligible to vote) there are greater numbers in the coastal states. California has 55 electoral votes by itself, which cancels out Idaho (4), Utah (6), Montana (3), North and South Dakota (3 each), Nebraska (5),
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PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER DILTS FOR OBAMA FOR AMERICA
The American
Kansas (6), Colorado (9), Missouri (10), Oklahoma (7) and Alaska (3), and California’s solid for Obama. Texas is likely to vote its 38 electoral votes for Romney, and counter Minnesota (10) and Michigan (16), and all but two in Illinois (20). In 2008, Californians voted 61% for Obama and 37% for McCain. I can’t see that swinging to the Romney camp, nor Texas’s 38 votes going for Obama when four years ago Texans voted 55% for the Republican. My friend Karl Rove (described as ‘Bush’s Brain’when he worked for Bush 43, George W., in the White House and before that in the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, when Bush was Governor), takes all the reputable polls (there are some rogues out there that he throws out) then selects the likely voters who say they are undecided, and gives two out of three for Romney - loading it in Romney’s favour, of course. At the end of July, even Rove gave the election to Obama. As you can see from Table 1, the projections are all over the place, but the one thing they are consistent about is that the President is well over the 270 he needs to capture a second term. You know, thinking back to the Olympics, there is
something to be said when looking at polls, and especially projections, that if you throw out the highest and lowest estimates and report the average, you won’t be far out. All polls have two considerations that must be kept in mind. First, polls don’t forecast, they measure that mercurial thing ‘public opinion’ at the time they were taken, even on the eve of an election. In Britain’s 2010 election no fewer than 14% of voters said they’d made up their
mind in the final 24 hours before casting their vote, and in the 2008 election 10% of American voters said they decided on the final day. Second, all polls are subject to the laws of sampling, and further, no one can ever conduct a perfect poll. All need to ‘weight’ their data (internet polls a lot) to account for people who are not on the internet. And those who take telephone polls need to weight for hard to reach ‘mobile-only’, ’do not call’ and other ‘silent’ numbers, even without taking into account there are still people who are not on the telephone. Current polls give a 6 point Obama lead in Ohio and an 11 point lead in Pennsylvania (CBS/ NYT/Quinnipiac). If you take Ohio and Pennsylvania out of the ‘Toss Ups’, and give their electors’ votes to Obama, I’d say, cautiously, that Obama could be looking at 330. Still, the conventions are upon us, vice president candidates to get involved, millions of dollars flung at potential voters to get them to the polls, the parties’ persuasive mes-
Table 1 Organisations Making Projections
Obama Romney Toss Up
Margin vs Previous Week
Election Projection
332
206
0
-
Electoral-Vote
332
206
0
Obama +32
NationalPolls.com
341
197
0
US Election Atlas
303
235
0
-
Race 4 2012 (no toss ups)
290
248
0
Romney +26
Five Thirty Eight Nov. 6 Forecast
298
240
0
Obama +12
Huffington Post
290
191
57
Obama +18 -
NPR
237
206
95
Washington Post
237
206
95
-
Karl Rove
280
182
76
Obama +33
RealClearPolitics
247
191
100
Romney +49 Obama +20
NY Times
237
206
95
CNN
196
159
183
-
SOURCE: NATIONAL POLLS
44 September 2012
The American Table 2 sages carefully crafted, researched and saturating the airwaves and newspapers, not to forget new media, robophones and door knocking to fill the average voters with dismay between now and November 6.
Demographics Sector Gender
Age
Low interest among younger voters The key finding from this analysis, before the ‘real’ campaign begins (traditionally on Labor Day) is how the age balance has shifted from 2004’s Bush/Kerry contest when the under/over 45 ratio was 46% under/54% over 45. It was nearly the same in 2008 when Obama/ McCain’s ratio was 47% under 45. Contrast that to the Ipsos USA finding in their July poll that of ‘Likely Voters’ 63% are over 45, 37% younger. Those between 18 and 30 represented 18% of voters in 2008, only a point higher than in 2004 despite all the hoopla at the time about how young people by the thousands were flocking to the polls to support Obama1. They are now down a third, to just 12%, who say they’ll turn out on Election Day. The other thing to note in Table 2 is that the Republican loyalists are declining, going to those who now declare themselves ‘independents’. Finally, a word about Mitt Romney’s foot-in-mouth foreign trip, where he caused a furore in London expressing his concern about the Brits' ability to host an Olympics and in Israel, insulting the Palestinians. Still, I have to declare my admiration for Romney’s management of the 2002 Winter Olympics, which we attended at the invitation of the late Dr. Richard Wirthlin and his wife. Heading for the giant slalom, everything was fine on the main
Race
Income
Education
Party ID Current Voting Intention (Ipsos)
Break
2004 Voters 2008 Voters
2012 Ipsos
%
%
%
Men
46
47
48
Women
54
53
52
18-29
17
18
12
30-44
29
29
25
45-64
30
37
39
65+
24
16
24
White
77
74
74
African - American
11
13
12
Latino
8
9
8
Asian
2
2
2
Other
2
3
4
Under $15,000
8
6
9
$15-30,000
15
12
9
$30-50,000
22
19
21
$50-75,000
23
21
14
$75-100,000
14
15
11
$100-150,000
11
14
9
$150-200,000
4
6
5
$200,000 or More
3
6
3
No High School
4
4
6
H.S. Graduate
22
20
32
Some College
32
31
27
College Graduate
26
28
19
Postgraduate
16
17
16
Democrat
37
39
36
Republican
37
32
29
Independent
26
29
35
Barack Obama
51
53
52
Mitt Romney
48
46
47
Other
1
1
1
2004/2008 EXIT POLL DATA BY EDISON; 2012 IPSOS DATA JULY 2012 RMWORCESTER@YAHOO.COM, IPSOS MORI
highway, but when we got to the mountain road, there was a huge traffic snarl up. Dick spoke up, “Hey, there’s Mitt!”. Romney, the Lord Coe of that Olympics, was at the centre of the intersection, directing the
traffic. That’s hands on management, I’d say. H Sir Robert Worcester is the founder of MORI. Follow him for updates on Twitter: @RobertWorcester
1
WORCESTER, ROBERT, EXPLAINING WHERE, AND BY WHOM, A BLACK, LIBERAL, INTELLECTUAL WAS ELECTED TO BE THE US PRESIDENT, JOURNAL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS 9, WILEY 143-148 (2009).
September 2012 45
The American
MG Opens Base in Birmingham
T
hat sounds, how shall I put it, unsurprising. ‘British car company based in the West Midlands of England’ seems pretty obvious. But that’s not the story. MG, one of the most famous names in British sports car manufacturing, is now owned by the Chinese SAIC Motor, and it’s this parent company that has opened a new facility in a very different Birmingham, a suburb of Michigan, to extend its North American operations. Nearly 100 people will be based in SAIC USA’s 30,000 sq. ft offices, focusing on purchasing, logistics, technology and engineering. They plan to work with 150 different North American automotive parts, materials and component suppliers. SAIC has a long standing joint venture with General Motors and senior engineers at MG Motor UK are involved with GM on the development of future engines. It may not be a name you know well – probably the reason they bought the MG Brand – but SAIC Motor sold more than 4 million vehicles in 2011 making it the eighth largest automotive manufacturer in the world. China overtook the USA to become the largest car market in the world in 2009 and last year 20 million new cars were sold in China.
46 September 2012
DRIVETIME
Take Me Home, Country Road P
eter Rodger is the chief examiner of the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM). His years of experience make him the perfect person to give advice on driving on Britain’s roads, especially for newcomers unused to driving on ‘the wrong side’ and those vacationing in the beautiful British countryside. Mr Rodger says, “Rural roads are more fun to drive than long, straight ones, but they are responsible for the majority of fatal and serious accidents. Ask yourself, can you stop in the distance you can see to be clear? And have you anticipated the approaching vehicle or junction hidden around the bend? Drive to the road and weather conditions to ensure you stay safe while enjoying your time in the country.” Here are his top tips for country driving: Summer sees more vulnerable road users out such as horse riders, cyclists and walkers. If you see them, pass wide and slow, and if this means hanging well back until you can overtake gently, do it. Horse box drivers will avoid stopping and leave longer following distances to give their animals a smoother ride. Be patient and don’t cut them up.
When there are wildlife warning signs, take heed of them. If a deer runs out in front of you, keep an eye out, as more may well follow. Ease off when approaching field entrances and gateways – unless you can see there is nothing. Where there are farm vehicles moving about, there is likely to be slippery mud on the road when it’s wet. The national speed limit, 60mph, is an absolute maximum, not a target. Speed limits differ for drivers who are towing. The maximum speed limits for a car and trailer are: 60 mph for motorways and dual carriageways, and 50 mph on other roads. Be sensitive to this. Rural roads often have overgrown verges, bushes and trees which will block your view. Always drive to be able to stop within the distance you can see to be clear. On a single-track road you need to double that stopping distance. You can get more driving advice, traffic updates and weather forecasts, at the IAM’s new website, drivingadvice.org.uk
The American
FIRST DRIVE
Chevrolet
Camaro Michael Burland drives Chevy’s old-school muscle car, now officially on sale in the UK
I
t hasn’t changed its looks since the fifth-gen Camaro was released to an excited American public in 2009, but then again it doesn’t need to. It certainly looks the part. This drive starts and ends at Bishopstrow House, a quintessentially English country house hotel in Wiltshire and the Camaro stands out like an American mastiff in a local cat show. I always loved the unique chiselled, squared-off looks of this Camaro, from the first press release photos, especially in red (it’s also available in white, yellow and a limited-edition 45th anniversary Carbon Flash Black with red and silver anniversary stripes). You’ve gotta have the twin matt black stripes down the center line – pure Camaro heritage. The interior looks great, all black with accents of silver and chrome, with cool-retro rectangular dials in the center console and cooler blue lighting when it’s dark. If you tried to update an old Camaro into the 21st century it would
look like... this. It’s let down a little, though, when you settle behind the (left-hand drive only) wheel. Some of the materials feel cheap, especially the ‘flappy paddle’ gear levers (I’m in the optional automatic transmission version with manual override) - they should be aluminum, or at least a plastic that doesn’t feel like a takeaway coffee mug lid. I particularly don’t appreciate the massive A pillars and top of the windshield, but with four decent size seats you won’t get many complaints from kids or shortjourney friends sat in the back . So, out on the varied roads of South Wiltshire. Country lanes, smalltown streets and dual-carriageways (two lanes each way, no central divider). And the Camaro feels, surprisingly, at home. It’s a wide beast by British standards, but not scarily so on these roads. Luckily there’s little traffic about. Lucky, because I’m having fun selecting manual, dropping down to first gear (in auto mode it defaults to second) and drag racing against myself. It feels good. Corners securely and flat too, when the bends come. It sounds good too, but it could be even
louder and more aggressive – if you’re going to have a car as in-yourface as this, its V8 should really roar. The 6162cc (376 cubic inches in American) 16 valve fuel injected plant gives 399hp in the auto, or 426hp in the manual. Claimed acceleration from 0-62mph is 5.6 seconds (auto convertible) and 5.2 seconds (manual coupe) and all Camaros are electronically limited to a top speed of 155mph. A six-speed Tremec manual transmission is standard, driving the rear wheels of course, but the aforementioned six-speed automatic transmission is a £1,500 option. Which neatly brings us to costs. Put my 14.5mpg average in the ‘don’t like’ column. The spec sheet claims 21.5mpg on the combined driving cycle. Maybe these ponies were thirsty that day. And to get the horses working properly you’ll want to feed them pricey super unleaded gasoline (98 RON) although it will function on ordinary unleaded. A tin-top Camaro, arguably even better looking than the rag-top, can be yours on British roads for £35,025, but the loaded convertible I drove would set you back £42,325 – the stripes alone cost £400, polished wheels an extra £400, and premium paint another £800. It’s still a lot of car for the money and if you want to fly the Stars and Stripes and still take passengers, there’s no more effective way this side of the Atlantic. H
September 2012 47
The American
Few teams beyond the SEC can take a loss and still contend for the National Championship. So who could?
Southeastern Conference
Y
Big 12 Collin Klein
48 September 2012
Oklahoma QB Landry Jones will be in his third season as starter, the receiving corps is stacked, the schedule’s favorable, and the secondary is maturing at the right time // Dana Holgorsen brings West Virginia to the Big 12. We know his offense works here. The defense is good enough against the pass for the Geno Smith-led offense to outscore most of the conference. // Texas QB David Ash, WR Joe Bergeron, and the receivers are all fine, but all seem slightly pale immitations of what has gone before. The defensive core must be re-established. There’s margin for disappointment. // Could TCU actually be better than Texas (again)? TCU visits Texas and WVU, but otherwise the schedule is fair. Replacing departures on the OL and in the secondary could sting. In the mix: Oklahoma St., Texas Tech, and Collin Klein-led Kansas St. (this year’s Baylor/RGIII-style surprise?)
PHOTO: © K-STATE ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS
ou can lose a game and be crowned national champs, but you can’t lose the last one. After going 13-0, LSU fell in a rematch with Alabama. Few contenders have the national swagger to bounce back from any loss. Having time and a conference championship game helps. LSU and Alabama meet at Tiger Stadium November 3. If LSU were to lose, Arkansas could still upset Alabama and let LSU back in. On reputation and precedent alone, Alabama may not need the redemption opportunity. Arkansas themselves could lose to Alabama in September and climb back with a defeat of LSU, November 23. South Carolina and Georgia’s early meeting (October 6) and tough late schedules give them opportunities to rebound. USC meet Oregon November 3, the loser retaining the chance to avenge itself in the Pac-12 championship game. Wisconsin may walk their division, lose to Nebraska or Michigan State, but rematch them in the B1G championship game. Both USC and Wisconsin could also ride the publicity of leading Heisman candidates Matt Barkley and Montee Ball to stay close to the top with a single loss. But Oklahoma v West Virginia (November 17) is a big one: the Big 12 lacks a redemptive championship game. There’s little time for either to bounce back in the polls without a playoff.
LSU will pound it behind another talented line, and the passing game, sometimes invisible last season, could gain consistency with Zach Mettenberger at QB. The D-line more than the LBs is talent-rich, and with Tyrann Mathieu suddenly gone, a new wave must (and probably will) step up. Both South Carolina and Alabama visit. // Alabama is rarely hampered by player turnover. RB Trent Richardson is gone, but QB AJ McCarron returns, and the secondary is the only concern defensively. Alabama must visit LSU. // Arkansas kicked out coach Bobby Petrino during the offseason, but with senior QB Tyler Wilson returning, and Alabama and LSU both visiting they remain more than just a spoiler alert. LB Alonzo Highsmith is also back, but the Razorback defense can’t rival those above. // South Carolina and Georgia will contest the Eastern Division, with the Gamecocks’ combination of QB Connor Shaw, RB Marcus Lattimore and DE Jadeveon Clowney good reasons for us to pick them ahead of Georgia, who may have the best QB in the conference in Aaron Murray, and most of the defense back, but kicked out possible Heisman candidate RB Isaiah Crowell this offseason. // In the mix: Florida replaced Charlie Weis with Boise St.’s Brent Pease at offensive coordinator, and the defense is mostly back; Tennessee could surprise, with 17 returning starters, and QB Tyler Bray picking out WRs Da’Rick Rogers and Justin Hunter; Auburn will again get squeezed in the West; Texas A&M has a quality O-line, but lacks the D to compete straight away in the SEC, while Missouri may be trench-weak on both sides. Atlantic Coast Conference
Florida St. lost QB EJ Manuel early last season and slipped from the national scene. This time? Manuel is back, as are 17 other starters, but the line isn’t great. The defense, however, may be the best in the country. // Losing to West Virginia 70-33 was a troubling end to
The American B1G
Pac 12
USC has served out its postseason ban and is ready to reclaim its crown from Oregon. Silas Redd arrives from Penn St. to partner Curtis McNeal in the backfield, solving their only offensive worry. QB Matt Barkley (pictured, right) is the Heisman front-runner, the line is set, and WR Robert Woods heads a stellar receiving corps. For a team with scholarship reductions, the defense is still deep, fast and talented. Only the D-Line remains an unknown. // The Oregon backfield of Kenyon Barner and De’Anthony Thomas and the Ducks’ high-paced spread will try to cover for
inexperience. The October 6 game against Washington could be a barn-burner. // Most of Utah’s defense (one of the Pac-12’s best) and offense return, including QB Jordan Wynn and RB John White. They’ll be closest to USC in the South.// It’s not just that Stanford lost Andrew Luck; they also lost three pro-quality OLs and a great TE. At least they have RB Stepfan Taylor and a sound, intelligent (you don’t say) defense. // Who doesn’t want to watch Washington QB Keith Price after he matched RGIII in the Alamo Bowl? The defense, however, was terrible last year. The secondary will be improved, but the D-line may not be. // It’s a similar story at Washington St., where Mike Leach takes over the reigns with QB Jeff Tuel the benefactor of another wide-open offensive scheme desperately scattering the ball as the defense melts. // The more Cal can use their fullback-blocked ground game, rather than let Jeff Tedford’s latest protegé Zach Maynard wing it, the less they’ll get caught up in shoot-outs. Only 4 defensive starters return. // In the mix: UCLA; Arizona.
QBs: Matt Barkley (USC) has to be the favorite, which pretty much precludes fellow Pac-10 passers Keith Price (Washington) and Jeff Tuel (Washington State), who will put up big stats; Landry Jones (Oklahoma) will make a run unless Collin Klein (K-State, pictured opposite) upstages him; Tyler Wilson (Arkansas), Denard Robinson (Michigan) and Aaron Murray (Georgia) must all pull off upsets of title contenders to get an invite. Geno Smith (WVU) could catch the voting imagination. RBs who will contend as long as their teams do: Montee Ball (Wisconsin); Marcus Lattimore (South Carolina); De’Anthony Thomas (Oregon); Stepfan Taylor (Stanford). Others: WR Sammy Watkins (Clemson); WR Robert Woods (USC); DE Jadeveon Clowney (South Carolina).
PHOTO © DARRYL OUMI / USC SPORTS INFORMATION
a good season for Clemson, but Tajh Boyd to Sammy Watkins may be the most exciting combo in the Eastern side of the country. However, Boyd won’t last long unless this year’s line protects him better. // Guess what? Virginia Tech defense and special teams will be real good this year. But with just 3 offensive starters returning, the talent pool beyond NFL-bound dual threat QB Logan Thomas is shallower than usual. // Georgia Tech, NC State, Miami and especially NCAA-sanctioned North Carolina will try to play spoilers.
© 2011 DAVID STLUKA / UW ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
With Ohio State and Penn State sanction-hit, and there only to upend Wisconsin’s record (Ohio St. could, Penn St. look doomed), the ‘Leaders’ Division (aargh! change that name!) is the Badgers’ already, with Montee Ball (pictured) and the ever-massive line. But with Russell Wilson graduated, the B1G title game is no walkover. // Has Michigan found its mojo, or was last year’s defensive breakthrough a mirage? 8 starters return on that side of the ball and with Denard Robinson still confounding defenses with his arm and feet, they are contenders. // Nebraska return 17 starters, including QB Taylor Martinez who must now show what he’s learnt. Everything else is just solid, which is how Coach Bo Pelini likes it. // Michigan State loses QB Kirk Cousins and their top 4 receivers, but a staunch defense returns, including DE William Gholston. // Illinois, Iowa and perhaps Purdue lead the chasing pack.
September 2012 49
The American
Big East
Notre Dame, Navy and high school football in Ireland You may know that the University of Notre Dame and Navy face each other in Dublin, Ireland on September 1 (you didn’t? Visit http://emeraldisleclassic.ie/ to find out more), but did you know that a host of other schools will be in Ireland that week? The Global Ireland Football Tournament (GIFT) 2012 will be played in Dublin on August 31, with 12 football teams from US and Canadian high schools and colleges playing double-header games across three venues. An all-star team of Brits from junior clubs in the UK will also line up as the ‘National School of American Football’ (NSAF) against Kent School (Connecticut) at Parnell Park in Dublin. Other games include Oak Park v Villanova, John Carroll v St. Norbert, Notre Dame HS v Hamilton, Father Judge v Notre Dame Prep, and Loyola v Jesuit Prep. A live webcast will be available. (Visit www.gift2012. com/watch-live/ for more.)
No WVU here anymore, so Louisville emerges as a favorite, with most starters returning. A more experienced O-line is key to this projection, giving QB Teddy Bridgewater time to find his receivers. // New coaching staff (again) and new schemes in Pittsburgh. The defense will play a 4-3 with only one returning starter on the line, but beyond that, the talent is solid. This week’s coach, Paul Chryst, is bringng back the pro-set, quickly. This should suit QB Sal Sunseri. Are Pitt back on track? // USF must try not to fade for once. QB BJ Daniels and a maturing defense could win the sort of close games this year which they regularly lost last year. That may be all they need to win the Big East. // Rutgers is now without Head Coach Greg Schiano (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and most of its offensive starters from 2011. The defense, which was the strength last year, will rebuild a little around DT Scott Vallone, but will keep them in games. // Cincinnati won 10 games last year, but the defense could suffer badly. Plus it’s hard to take a QB named Munchie Legaux seriously. Independents
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly has stopped the rot, but becoming nationally relevant may take a little longer. QB Tommy Rees (suspended) won’t travel to Dublin, so Everett Golson gets first crack at the start job. RB Cierre Wood and the O-line will get things going against Navy, but the Fighting Irish have a crushing schedule. More than last year’s 8 wins would be impressive progress. // BYU Coach Bronco Mendenhall knows defense, and there’s litte running room against DE Eathyn Manumaleuna, SS Daniel Sorensen or the LBs. QB Riley Nelson will continue to improve. The middle of their schedule could be the biggest halt to another 10-win season. // Navy will have a lot more © PHIL HOFFMAN / NAVAL ACADEMY ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
50 September 2012
fun than Army this season. The Midshipmen will need to reshape both lines, but after Notre Dame, a reeling Penn St. is followed by VMI, San Jose State, Air Force, Central Michigan, Indiana, East Carolina, FAU, Troy, Texas State, and of course, Army. Not the toughest schedule. RB Gee Gee Greene (pictured below) will lead Navy to a Bowl. // Army had three wins last year, but there’s reasons for optimism: the top 7 rushers are back, and there’s more home games this year. That’s probably about it, though. Mountain West Conference
After 50 wins, Boise State QB Kellen Moore is gone, and so is RB Doug Martin and offensive coordinator Brent Pease. Just as concerning is only one returning starter on the defense. Luckily the next generation of Broncos just might be better than anything the rest of the MWC has to offer. // Nevada have their toughest games at home, allowing them to settle into the Conference. // Much of Wyoming’s defense returns. That’s not a good thing. // With just six returning starters over all, Air Force can’t be expected to make a bowl game this season, but anything could happen in this year’s MWC. // However, San Diego St. would like to make one final statement before heading to the Big East. They lose QB Ryan Lindley, but gain experienced starter Ryan Katz from Oregon St., and he has receivers to work with. Both lines are a work in progress, though. Other Conferences
C-USA: SMU returns to a major conference next season (well, the Big East, anyway) and has the defense to win C-USA and prove there is life after a death penalty... a quarter of a century later. // WAC: Tidy offense, a good O-line, some fine defenders and Ray Guy Award-winning punter. Lousiana Tech easy in the WAC. // Sun Belt: Louisiana-Lafayette has enough of its passing attack back to earn a bowl bid. They host Arkansas St. and FIU, the other Sun Belt contenders. // MAC: I tried to pursuade myself Bowling Green (17 returning starters) can work out the kinks, but QB Tyler Tettleton, RB Ryan Boykin, a strong defense and coach Frank Solich make Ohio irresistable. H
NFL PREVIEW:
Dropping Back, Stepping Up
P
reaseason predictions are rarely bold, usually only predicting teams will perform 2-3 wins differently from the year before. Statistics suggest this is not how the NFL behaves, however. Over the past ten seasons, approximately twelve teams per year rise or fall by 4+ games, and roughly three teams per year take off or plummet to the tune of 5-6 wins different from the year before. Going into the season, we think we know what the NFL is like, but it rarely plays out that way. Giants as Super Bowl champs: you had that, right? Carson Palmer leaves Cincy and they get five games better? Indy winning eight less games than the year before? Here’s another statistic: of those teams that rose or fell by 4+ games in any given season over the past ten years, approximately one third of them headed the other way by 4+ games the following season. All worth bearing in mind as we ponder the same old teams for the playoffs... AFC EAST
New England: 2011’s gaudy pass stats hid a defense pitiful in yards allowed (though timely with picks). The Pats’ draft class was almost entirely defensive. If the AFC Champs lost either Tom Brady or DT Vince Wilfork to injury, they could unravel in a way we’ve never witnessed before. Until that happens, though, the default position is ‘perennial contender’. // Buffalo: The Bills are everybody’s least surprising surprise pick for a Wildcard after being a couple of fieldgoals wide of opening 7-0 last season (though 1-8 thereafter). A switch to the 4-3, the addition of veterans Mario Williams and Mark Anderson to the DL, plus first round CB Stephon Gilmore, are all expected to improve a defense that was 20th or worse in most categories last year. 10-6 is a best-case scenario. // NY Jets: QB(ish) Tim Tebow is either a wrinkle, an inspiration, or one of the worst throwers in the league, depending on your viewpoint. He’s certainly a distraction to incumbent Mark Sanchez. To look at the secondary – Revis, Cromartie,
Wilson, Landry, etc – it’s tempting to figure the Jets have the antidote to the passing league. But despite the leadership Yeremiah Bell adds, and the growl rookie DE Quinton Coples brings to the new 4-3, has enough changed from 2011? // Miami: Fins offseason recap: Cut leading tackler? Check. Trade leading receiver? Check. Invite distractions Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson and Hard Knocks into the locker room? Check. Cut Chad Johnson again? uh-huh. Hire inexperienced Head Coach. Yup. Use top pick on a QB (Ryan Tannehill). Well, that’s something. AFC SOUTH
Houston: WR Andre Johnson, LB Mario Williams and QB Matt Schaub all got hurt …and they won the division. The late fade/early postseason exit suggests a Super Bowl run needs Schaub and Johnson fit, and they parted with some key names, including Williams, LB DeMeco Ryans and RT Eric Winston. DC Wade Phillips again proved that while he’s no wow as a head coach, he’s outstanding as a coordinator. The
Cam Newton, QB Carolina Panthers © KENT SMITH / COURTESY OF CAROLINA PANTHERS
Texans are still clear favorites for the division. // Tennessee: A bunch of questions. Hasselbeck or Locker at QB? Can RB Chris Johnson return to his 2010 form? Is WR Kenny Britt an off-the-field bust? Can the defense generate any pass rush? On the plus side, they are ‘three phases’ solid. The early schedule isn’t easy; if they start out 4-3, watch ‘em. // Indianapolis: Andrew Luck, year one, isn’t about restoring greatness, just belief. There’s wins to be had in the early schedule, but he’s going to miss the protection he enjoyed with Stanford. // Jacksonville: In an ideal world, QB Blaine Gabbert’s stats improve with new targets Laurent Robinson and Justin Blackmon. In the real world, Robinson seems brittle, Blackmon already has a DUI connected to his name, and as I write, Maurice Jones-Drew (48% of the offense) is holding out. The real question is not whether the Jags are contenders, but if they’re guaranteed to finish above the Colts. Fundamentals and improvements add up to 3rd place... as a ceiling. And yet I’m mentioning them 4th? Hmm.
September 2012 51
The American
Believing in change may be a matter of believing in some quarterbacks changing their habit: Joe Flacco (left) could try being more inspirational than safe, while Jay Cutler (opposite), now parted from Mike Martz, might stop forcing the ball and rely on the ground game to help the Bears upset the Packers in the NFC North
PHOTO © PHIL HOFFMANN, BALTIMORE RAVENS
AFC WEST
AFC NORTH
Baltimore: Joe Flacco’s strengths are his arm and his tendency to find RB Ray Rice, rather than throwing picks. ‘Safe’ just doesn’t earn public acclaim. This is a Super Bowl worthy team hanging in for another go. The defensive stars defy father time, but the next generation is there. To take the final step, Flacco may have to be more than good; he may need to be inspirational. If he can light up his entire receiving corps, the Ravens could prove unstoppable. // Pittsburgh: Goodbye comfort, hello change. An O-line past its sell-by date welcomes two rookies (David DeCastro, Mike Adams) and top center Maurkice Pouncey is back from injury. New Offensive Coordinator Todd Haley may not be the easiest personality to get along with, but expect the offense to stall less in the red zone. Still, inexperience is inexperience. To become great again, the Steelers may have to step back. // Cincinnati: We don’t quite believe those orange and black helmets. The 2011 team never beat anyone of note en route to 9-7, newly-acquired ex-Patriot RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis is considered a solid replacement for Cedric Benson rather than an upgrade, and the script says that QB Andy Dalton has a sophomore slump after a fine rookie outing. Now it’s just a question of whether the rookie crop including CB Dre Kirkpatrick can help Cincinnati nibble at the toes of the Ravens and Steelers. // Cleveland: New owner, new quarterback, same old Browns. Expect to see a LOT of rookie runner Trent Richardson this year.
52 September 2012
Kansas City: CB Eric Berry and RB Jamaal Charles (ACLs), QB Matt Cassel (broken hand) missed major time in 2011, Cassel as a direct result of a poor O-line. It will be much changed this year. The receivers – Bowe, Baldwin, Breaston and McCluster – mean he has no excuse not to shine if protected. If NT Dontari Poe is the Haloti Ngata equivalent they hope he is, this front seven could be the best KC’s had in a couple of decades. // Denver: The Broncos D, gritty late in 2011, played soft at times. Denver will be a playoff team (legitimately, rather than least humdrum of the AFC Average), with a fine running game, passing game (Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker unleashed) and a 10-6 record, yet one heavy hit to Manning’s blind side, and they could be in the hands of rookie Brock Osweiler or Caleb Hanie. // San Diego: Philip Rivers’ fellow 2004 draftees Eli Manning and Roethlisberger have won two Super Bowls each. Rivers has as many as J.P. Losman. WR Vincent Jackson is gone, and losing LG Kris Dielman (retirement) and Marcus McNeil (released) means a new-look line. San Diego upgraded their own pass rush in the draft but it’s Norv Turner feeling the pressure. // Oakland: Expect some culture change. They set a new record for penalties last season, and DB Stanford Routt was first against the wall when the revolution came. But for now, Carson Palmer is still the retread QB, Darren McFadden the oft-dinged runner, and the linebacking corps wasn’t special even when Kamerion Wimbley was there. NFC EAST
Philadelphia: Week 3, 2011: Vick breaks his hand, the Eagles lose to the Giants. That was the difference that allowed the Giants a playoff berth, while the Eagles, on a 4-game winning streak at season’s end, stayed home. The ‘Dream
Team’ talent remains. If anything the defense should be better, adding MLB DeMeco Ryans. But again, can Vick stay under center long enough to take the Eagles the distance? // NY Giants: RB Brandon Jacobs, WR Mario Manningham and RT Kareem McKenzie are gone, but those departures are nothing that can’t be managed unless the injury bug bites. Before their playoff run, the defense leaked points. The pass-rushers - Tuck, Umenyiora, Kiwanuka, Pierre-Paul – don’t seem likely to have a let-down, though. // Dallas: High on theatrics, low on results. Tony Romo is not an elite quarterback. RB DeMarco Murray may lack durability. WR Laurant Robinson gone, Dez Bryant was having off-field issues at press time. If we’re back to Romo, Miles Austin and Jason Witten, we’ve heard this tune before, so what else y’got? The hope is that newcorners Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne make all the difference. // Washington: Around the electrifying RGIII, the line looks like a shed-full of guards, the receiving corps is a handful of No.2s, and the backfield is ‘a bunch of guys’. Washington can’t plug in RGIII and enjoy overnight success any more than Baylor did. However, the defensive front seven is ready to contend. Washington will be no push over. NFC NORTH
Green Bay: Great quarterback, great receivers, but all is not perfect: variable Marshall Newhouse takes over at LT, and the D-line slipped back in 2011; Anthony Hargrove, added this offseason, is suspended 8 games for his bit of ‘Bountygate’. The backfield keeps James Starks, loses Ryan Grant, and gains Cedric Benson. DE Ryan Pickett aside CB Charles Woodson is perennially great, the LB corps – Matthews, Bishop, Hawk, and newcomer Nick Perry – is the strength of the D, and the kicking game’s more than solid. Still, no Super Bowl lock. // Chicago: With Mike Martz gone (and less emphasis on Jay Cutler flinging for glory from behind a balsawood and sticky-tape line), the prospect of Matt Forte and ex-Raider Michael Bush is appealing. Add ex-Fins WR Brandon Marshall and rookie WR Alshon Jeffery, and the playoffs are a must. Still, that line. The Bears’ defense, for all the name recognition (Peppers, Urlacher, Briggs), excel more at turnovers than shutting down
drives. Against the pass, they were one of the league’s worst. // Detroit: Matthew Stafford used towering target Calvin Johnson and co. to compile 5000+ yards passing. However, three players were arrested for marijuana possession this offseason. Projected starting CB Aaron Berry was arrested (twice) for other stuff and was axed. This sure feels like an atmosphere of regression. With Kyle Vanden Bosch and others entering their 12th seasons, Detroit needs to grow up before it gets old. // Minnesota: The Vikes drafted tackle Matt Kalil to make QB Christian Ponder feel comfortable. It’s doubtful Adrian Peterson can bounce back from ACL surgery easily. Offense, defense and special teams need too much from 2012 draft selections. NFC SOUTH
Atlanta: Receivers Roddy White, Julio Jones and Tony Gonzalez sound playoff-worthy. Worries: Matt Ryan’s never fulfilled the rookie potential, and RB Michael Turner’s on the downhill side. The combination of Dunta Robinson and arrival Asante Samuel at corners is likely to be a bright spot defensively. Atlanta aren’t automatic heirs to New Orleans’ crown – this division will be a muddle in 2012. // Carolina: Under center: Cam Newton, 4000-yard passer as a rookie. In the backfield: Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams, each over 750 yards last season. The line could be one of the best in the league. However, if anything happens to 12-year vet Steve Smith, the receiving corps is in trouble. The defense loses MLB Dan Connor, but adds Luke Kuechly, and they played most of 2011 without LBs Jon Beason or Thomas Davis. If they all show up at once, they’ll win more than they lose. // New Orleans: If you consider the suspensions: Coach Sean Payton (season), MLB Jonathan Vilma (season), DE Will Smith (4 games), replacement head coach Joe Vitt (6 games) – and Brees distracted by long contract negotiations, what does a 4-game slide look like if not this? // Tampa Bay: I’m buying RB Doug Martin as a ‘complete back’ for the modern NFL, WR Vincent Jackson was added, TE Kellen Winslow (over-rated!) traded. The draft went heavily defensive again. Head Coach Greg Schiano and that notoriously difficult college to pro adjustment is the reservation.
PHOTO © BILL SMITH / COURTESYU OF THE CHICAGO BEARS
The American
NFC WEST
San Francisco: The 49ers backfield only gets better, Frank Gore joined by Brandon Jacobs and rookie LaMichael James (Oregon). QB Alex Smith has Mario Manningham, Randy Moss and first round pick AJ Jenkins (Illinois) added to his arsenal. Defense begins with DT Justin Smith and ends with a swarm of LBs. When called upon, the secondary were ball hawks. The NFC Championship Game is the minimum. // Arizona: Picking a QB is guesswork at press time, but we think John Skelton will emerge to take advantage of Larry Fitzgerald and rookie Michael Floyd. With less injury, the backfield beyond Beanie Wells could breakout. The O-line may continue to spoil things. The defense is getting good, and the secondary could be one of the best in the NFC when it shakes out. // St Louis: We’re probably swayed by the Rams coming to town soon, but we think they can climb four wins (...which would only mean six, after all). I believe in coach Jeff Fisher, and I believe in QB Sam Bradford. As for the defense, let’s just say they’ll try hard. The DL could take a big step forward after adding DTs Kendall Langford (Dolphins) and Michael Brokers (LSU). // Seattle: Seahawks last? Controversial! Risky! I’ll risk it. Terrell Owens is in town to partner with an inexperienced QB (probably Matt Flynn), so I’m not the only one taking a risk. Pete Carroll has reached 10 wins with an NFL team only once in six professional seasons. H
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As perennial Super Bowl contenders New England prepare for another visit to Wembley, Richard L Gale catches a few words with second-year Patriot tackle Nate Solder
S
entences that include the phrases ‘rookie tackle’ and ‘NFL MVP quarterback’ don’t always end well. But with injuries to veterans Sebastian Vollmer and Matt Light last year, New England rookie Nate Solder found himself thrust into a start role... despite becoming a
Patriot at the height of the NFL lockout. How did that affect things? “I didn’t get a playbook”, he explains, “but I was meeting with coaches for a couple of days. I got together with Dante [Scarnecchia, Patriots line coach] right after I was drafted. We were in there at six in the morning ‘til seven at night. I made what notes I could, I tried to study it.
Nate Solder in action COURTESY OF THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS/DAVID SILVERMAN PHOTO
“Then the second day they said, ‘no, you’re not allowed to meet anymore,’ so I didn’t get a playbook. I called a few of the guys, I got in contact with Logan Mankins, Sebastian Vollmer and they helped me out ... they drew out some plays, gave me the information they did have.” I ask him how things have been different this offseason. “There’s so much more time to refine techniques and get down what the coaches are asking you to do. Last year they’re throwing techniques at you the same time they’re throwing assignments at you, and ‘oh, by the way, we’re playing the New York Giants next week’.” Nate had been a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, the ‘Academic Heisman’. His ability to learn quickly was called upon last year. With both starting tackles injured at the same time, Solder was thrust into a start role. He ended up on the field for 880 snaps his rookie season, surrendering just 3 sacks. As a journalist I felt compelled to ignore the 877 successful ones, and asked him what the reaction is like in the huddle when Tom Brady hits the deck. “I didn’t know much about my teammates, especially Tom [at the time]. But when something happens, there’s no kind of hubbub. We just move on.” Solder was still in the lineup as the Patriots progressed to the Super Bowl. How well did he adjust
to the longer pro season? “It was a long season – a positive was I got a lot of snaps; it’ll help me in the long run. I think physically I was as worn out as I was in college, but mentally there was a whole different level of stess and exhaustion.” Nate’s older brother John suffered a career ending injury while playing linebacker for Stanford. With all the talk of concussions this offseason and innumerable ex-players suing the NFL, I ask Nate what the talk is in the trenches. Does he think about that much? “I guess maybe it’s one of those things, when you’re young, you don’t think about getting old and that sort of thing – it falls into that category. My brother right now, he skis five days a week, and does adventure sports and he beats his body up as much as I do playing football. One way or another, I’d be beating up my body just being a young guy. “I appreciate the way our trainers are handling it, so I feel safe in the evaluations that I’ve had.” A year on from his own draft, I ask if he watched the 2012 draft. “I had enough of that last year. I was in Ohio at one of Matt Light’s charity events, camping out. We didn’t have electricity!” This year, Nate takes over for Matt Light permanently at left tackle, and the Patriots are again amongst the favorites to make it to the Super Bowl. That journey will route through London, October 28 at Wembley Stadium. H Stop Press: The Patriots’ opponents in Wembley, the St. Louis Rams, had just announced at press time that they would not be visiting London in 2013 and 2014. Their home stadium lease appeared to be the main concern. Replacement matchups are expected.
US Sports on UK TV NCAA Football (ESPN)
The College Season kicks off on ESPN America, August 30 with SEC contenders South Carolina and star running back Marcus Lattimore, followed by the first chance to see Washington State Jeff Tuel unleashed under Mike Leach’s tutelage, plus Notre Dame v Navy Courtesy of ESPN America live on September 1. Below Win up to £50 worth of NCAA football are the confirmed games merchandise of your choice* from the on ESPN America over the ESPN American shop. To enter the draw, next month (games live, with delayed first showcheck out the question below, and email ings in italic). Other games the correct answer, your contact details will be announced closer to (name, address, daytime phone number) air time. to theamerican@blueedge.co.uk with NCAA Comp in the subject line to NCAA Games on ESPN arrive by mid-day September 30. Aug 30: South Carolina at Vanderbilt; You must be 18 years old or over Washington St at BYU. Aug 31: Texas A&M to enter this competition. Only at Louisiana Tech; Boise State at Michigan one entry per person per St. Sept 1: Notre Dame v Navy; Ohio St draw. The editor’s deciat Penn State; Viewers Choice: Bowl. sion is final. No cash Green at Fla.; S Miss at Neb, Miami at alternative. BC; Alabama v Michigan; Arkansas St at Oregon. Sept 2: Miami at BC; Who is the current football Clemson v Auburn; Northwestern coach of the BYU Cougars? *subject to at Syracuse. Sept 3: Kentucky at availability Louisville; Georgia Tech at Virginia 1. Rashard Mendenhall Tech. Sept 6: Pittsburgh at Cincin2. Bronco Mendenhall 3. Raf Mildenhall nati. Sept 8: Utah at Utah St; Penn St at Virginia; USC v Syracuse; Washington at LSU; Illinois at Arizona St. Sept 9: UCF Pro Football at Ohio St; Air Force at Michigan; Sept 14: Still unannounced at press time. Rutgers at USF. Sept 15: California at Ohio St; Alabama at Arkansas; Notre Dame at Michigan St. Sept 16.Texas at Ole Miss. Sept 18: Navy NASCAR at Penn State; Florida at Tennessee. Sept 20: (Premier Sports) Kent St at Buffalo. Sept 21: BYU at Boise St. The Sprint Cup Chase begins Sept 22: Baylor at UL-Monroe. Sept 23: Sunday September 16 with the Missouri at South Carolina. Sept 27: Stanford GEICO 400 at Chicagoland. H at Washington. Sept 29: Hawai’i at BYU.
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September 2012 55
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Olympic dreams fulfilled? Teams USA and GB never deserved it more, writes Richard L Gale o how were your Olympics? If you were sharing your viewing with a British partner or friends, chances are you had a lot of fun – in total, the USA and UK racked up 169 medals, including 75 gold. There were no fierce Olympic rivalries in our house. Team GB and Team USA didn’t clash for gold very often, and even the Thai contingent in our well-traveled gathering didn’t begrudge the whooping every time the USA or UK landed another medal. (Okay, so British reserve doesn’t lend itself to whooping, but everybody knew about it when Andy Murray finally won something big.) All we asked: that Thailand won more than Myanmar (don’t ask – it’s a bit like the Brits and the French), that Britain got its ‘Great’ on and beat all the other European nations, and that the USA beat everybody. By the time the last day of the games came around, a happy house was assured. Still, it could have ended on a sour note. If you’re American swimmer Katie Ledecky, winning gold at the age of 15 is a dream come true. If you’re British gymnast Beth Tweddle, winning Bronze at the age of 27 borders on the miraculous. But if you’re the USA basketball team, frequently referred to by foreign journalists and commentators as the ‘Dream Team’ just for wearing the threads, anything less than perfection is considered shameful. When Kobe Bryant told Yahoo! Sports before the Olympics that the 2012 team could beat the original
56 September 2012
Dream Team of 1992, did he believe that, or was he just throwing the gauntlet down to his teammates to settle for nothing less than history? For Britons, the Olympics were a blast, a reassuring statement that the union wasn’t past its sell-by date, that it was still top dog in its own neighborhood and that, like Mayor of London Boris Johnson, the country could still be endearingly eccentric and successful. For America, beating China meant that whatever the balance of payments might look like, democracy still wins over state control. Taste dust, old enemies, the kid America and Grandaddy Britain still got it. No pressure on Kobe and company, then. All they needed to do was not spoil the party. Losing to Spain wouldn’t have wrecked the party, exactly, but it might have flattened the champagne a little. So let’s forgive them if 107-100 isn’t quite the stuff of greatness, if they didn’t humiliate all challengers.
In the end, Kobe’s Dream Team didn’t dominate. Phelps didn’t dominate. They just won. Sometimes being the best means not swaggering (somebody tell Usain Bolt). Sometimes its just about acting like you deserve it. I can’t remember an Olympics when I genuinely liked our nations’ athletes more. H
PHOTO © GARY BAKER
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American ORGANIZATIONS
American Friends of the British Museum Mollie Norwich. The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG. 020 7323 8590 www.britishmuseum.org
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American Church in London Senior Pastor: Rev. John D’Elia. Music Director: Anthony Baldwin. Sunday School 9.45am Sunday Worship 11am, child care provided. 79a Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4TD (Goodge St. tube station) Tel: 020 7580 2791/07771 642875 churchsecretary@amchurch.co.uk www.amchurch.co.uk
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American Friends of Contemporary Dance & Sadler’s Wells U.S. Office: Celia Rodrigues, Chair 222 Park Avenue South, 10A, New York, NY 10003 +1.917.539.9021 americanfriends@sadlerswells.com UK Office: 020 7863 8134 development@sadlerswells.com. American Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery Kathleen Bice, Development Officer, Members and Patrons 020 8299 8726 www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/support_us/ american_friends.aspx
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American Friends of the Philharmonia Orchestra, Inc. Jennifer Davies, Development Director jennifer.davies@philharmonia.co.uk www.philharmonia.co.uk/support/friends/afpo/ American Friends of the Royal Court Theatre U.S.: Laurie Beckelman, Beckelman and Capalino +1.212.616.5822 laurie@beckcap.com UK: Gaby Styles, Head of Development, Royal Court Theatre 020 7565 5060 gabystyles@royalcourttheatre.com or info@afrct.org
American Friends of the Royal Institution of Great Britain U.S.: c/o Chapel & York Limited, PMB #293, South Building Washington, DC 20004 UK: The Development Office, Royal Institution of Great Britain, 21 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4BS 020 7670 2991 kdodd@ri.ac.uk www.rigb.org American Friends of the Royal Society http://royalsociety.org/Overseas-Donations
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American Friends of St. Bartholomew the Great U.S.: John Eagleson 2925 Briarpark, Suite 600, Houston, TX 77042 UK: 20 7606 5171 admin@greatstbarts.com
American Friends of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust U.S.: John Chwat, President 625 Slaters Lane, Suite 103, Alexandria, VA 22314 +1. 703.684.7703 info@americanfriendsofsbt.org www.americanfriendsofsbt.org American Friends of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Inc. U.S.: Diana Seaton, Executive Director 61 Londonderry Drive, Greenwich, CT 06830 +1.203.536.4328 diana.seaton@afvam.org www.afvam.org UK: 020 7942 2149 American Friends of Wigmore Hall U.S.: c/o Chapel and York, 1000 N West Street Suite 1200, Wilmington DE 19801 UK: 020 7258 8220 mhosterweil@wigmore-hall.org.uk American Museum in Britain Director: Dr Richard Wendorf Claverton Manor, Bath BA2 7BD. 01225 460503. Fax 01225 469160 info@americanmuseum.org www.americanmuseum.org American Women Lawyers in London www.awll.org.uk info@awll.org.uk American Women’s Health Centre 214 Great Portland Street, London W1W 5QN. Obstetric, gynecological & infertility service. 020 7390 8433 www.awhc.co.uk Anglo American Medical Society Hon. Sec.: Dr. Edward Henderson, The Mill House, Whatlington, E. Sussex, TN33 0ND. 01424 775130. ed@themillhouse.eclipse.co.uk Association for Rescue at Sea The UK’s Royal National Lifeboat Association does not have an American Branch but if you wish to make a tax-efficient gift to the RNLI, contact AFRAS. Secretary: Mrs. Anne C. Kifer P.O. Box 565 Fish Creek, WI 54212, U.S.A. 00-1-920-743-5434 fax 00-1-920-743-5434 email: ackafras@aol.com Atlantic Council Director: Alan Lee Williams. 185 Tower Bridge Road, London SE1 2UF 0207 403 0640 or 0207 403 0740. Fax: 0207 403 0901 acuk@atlantic-council.org.uk
58 September 2012
Bethesda Baptist Church Kensington Place, London W8. 020 7221 7039 office@bethesdabaptist.org.uk Boy Scouts of America Mayflower District Field Executive: Wayne Wilcox 26 Shortlands Road, Kingston, Surrey KT2 6HD 020 8274 1429, 07788 702328 wpwilcox@gmail.com BritishAmerican Business Inc. 75 Brook Street, London, W1K 4AD. 020 7290 9888 www.babinc.org ukinfo@babinc.org British American-Canadian Associates Contact via The English Speaking Union esu@esu.org CARE International UK 10-13 Rushworth Street, London, SE1 0RB 020 7934 9334 www.careinternational.org info@careinternational.org Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 66-68 Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2PA 020 7584 7553 adcockmp@ldschurch.org https://lds.org.uk http://mormon.org Church of John the Evangelist Vicar: Reverend Stephen Mason. Assistant Priest: Reverend Mark Pudge. Assistant Curate: Reverend Deiniol Heywood. Hyde Park Crescent, London W2. Tel: 020 7262 1732 parishadmin@stjohns-hydepark.com Commonwealth Church Rev. Rod Anderson, PO Box 15027, London SE5 0YS www.savestmarks.com Democrats Abroad (UK) Regular updates on events, chapters throughout the UK (and specific email addresses), and DAUK newsletters: www.democratsabroad.org.uk Register to vote and request an Absentee Ballot: www.votefromabroad.org Tel: 020 7724 9796 www.democratsabroad.org/group/united-kingdom
Friends of St Jude London Debbie Berger 07738 628126 debbie.berger@stjude.org www.friendsofstjude.org/london Grampian Houston Association Secretary: Bill Neish 5 Cairncry Avenue, Aberdeen, AB16 5DS Tel: 01224-484720 wineish@sky.com International Community Church (Interdenominational) Our Vision: “Everyone Mature in Christ” (Col. 1:28) Pastor: Rev. Dr. Barry K. Gaeddert Worship on Sundays: 10.30 am at Chertsey Hall, Heriot Road, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 9DR Active Youth programme. Church Office: 1st floor, Devonshire House, 60 Station Road, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 2AF. 01932 830295. churchoffice@icc-uk.org www.icc-uk.org Junior League of London President: Meredith Niles 9 Fitzmaurice Place, London W1J 5JD. President 020 7499 8159 Fax: 020 7629 1996 jrleague@jll.org.uk www.jll.org.uk Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation 19 Angel Gate, City Road, London EC1V 2PT. Tel: 020 7713 2030. Fax: 020 7713 2031 info@jdrf.org.uk www.jdrf.org.uk Liberal Jewish Synagogue 28 St John’s Wood Road, London NW8 7HA Services 6.45pm Fridays and 11am on Saturdays except for first Friday each month when service is held at 7pm with a Chavurah Supper. Please bring non-meat food dish to share. 020 7286 5181 ljs@ljs.org Lions Club International Lakenheath & District 105EA, 15 Highfields Drive, Lakenheath, Suffolk IP27 9EH. Tel 01842 860752 www.lionsclubs.org
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Lutheran Services, St Anne’s Rev. Timothy Dearhamer. Lutheran Church, Gresham St, London EC2. Sun 11am-7pm. Tel. 020 7606 4986 Fax. 020 7600 8984 info@StAnnesLutheranChurch.org www.StAnnesLutheranChurch.org
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Methodist Central Hall Westminster, London SW1H 9NH Services every Sunday at 11am and 6.30pm. Bible study groups & Monday guilds also held. Tel: 020 7222 8010 www.methodist-central-hall.org.uk church@mchw.org.uk
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North American Friends of Chawton House Library U.S. Office: 824 Roosevelt Trail, #130, Windham, ME 04062 +1.207 892 4358 UK Office: Chawton House Library, Chawton, Alton, Hampshire GU34 1SJ 01420 541010 www.chawton.org/support/nafchl5.html Republicans Abroad (UK) Chairman Dr. Thomas Grant chairman@republicansabroad-uk.org www.republicansabroad-uk.org Rotary Club of London 6 York Gate, London NW1 4QG. Tel. 020 7487 5429 Royal National Lifeboat Institution Head Office, West Quay Road, Poole BH15 1HZ 0845 045 6999 www.rnli.org.uk The Royal Oak Foundation Sean Sawyer, 35 West 35th Street #1200, New York NY 10001-2205, USA Tel 212- 480-2889 or (800) 913-6565 Fax (212)785-7234 ssawyer@royal-oak.org www.royal-oak.org St Andrew’s Lutheran Church Serving Americans since 1960. Whitby Road & Queens Walk, Ruislip, West London. (South Ruislip Tube Station). Services: 11 am 020 8845 4242 pastorvan43@hotmail.com www.standrewslutheran.co.uk Other Lutheran Churches in the UK www.lutheran.co.uk T.R.A.C.E. P.W. (The ‘original’ Transatlantic Children’s’ Enterprise reuniting children with G.I. father’s and their families) Membership Secretary: Norma Jean Clarke-McCloud 29 Connaught Avenue, Enfield EN1 3BE www.tracepw.org normajean78@hotmail.com UK Society of CPAs Suite 32, 2 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3DQ
United Nations Association, Westminster branch Chairman: David Wardrop 61 Sedlescombe Road, London SW6 1RE 0207 385 6738 info@unawestminster.org.uk www.unawestminster.org.uk www.wethepeoples.org.uk USA Girl Scouts Overseas – North Atlantic Stem Kaserne Bldg 1002, Postfach 610212 D-68232, Mannheim, Germany. +49 621 487 7025. girlscouts@cmtymail.26asg.army.mil www.norags.com
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American Club of Hertfordshire President: Lauryn Awbrey 63-65 New Road, Welwyn, Herts AL6 0AL 01582 624823 amclubherts@aol.com
American Women of South Wales 07866 190838 awsouthwales@fawco.org
American Expats of the Northwest of England The Ruskin Rooms, Drury Lane, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 6HA. expatsnw@gmail.com American Friends of English Heritage 1307 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W. Washington DC 20036. 202-452-0928. c/o English Heritage, Attn: Simon Bergin, Keysign House, 429 Oxford Street, London W1R 2HD. 020 7973 3423 www.english-heritage.org.uk American Professional Women in London Rebecca Lammers 58 Shacklewell Road, London, N16 7TU 075 3393 5064 abwinlondon@gmail.com www.meetup.com/American-Business-Womenin-London www.facebook.com/groups/293890040710041 Twitter: @USAProWomenLDN American Society in London c/o The English Speaking Union 37 Charles Street, London W1J 5ED info@americansocietyuk.com 020 7539 3400 American Stamp Club of Great Britain Chapter 67 of the American Philatelic Society. Hon. Publicity Secretary: Stephen T. Taylor 5 Glenbuck Road, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 6BS. 020 8390 9357 American Womens Association of Bristol awabristol_membership@fawco.org American Women of Berkshire & Surrey P. O. Box 10, Virginia Water, Surrey GU25 4YP. www.awbs.org.uk awbscommonground@yahoo.co.uk
The Anglo-American Charity Limited Jeffrey Hedges, Director. 07968 513 631 info@anglo-americancharity.org
Arnold Page High Twelve Club – International Club of Master Masons Secretary: Charles A. Aldrich 11 Burrow Drive, Lakenheath, Suffolk IP27 9EY 01842 860 650 mailto:caaldrich@btinterner.com Association of American Women in Ireland aawireland@fawco.org Association of American Women of Aberdeen PO Box 11952, Westhill, Aberdeen, AB13 0BW email via website www.awaaberdeen.org British Association of American Square Dance Zoe Bremer, 1 Burnwood Drive, Wollaton, Nottingham NG8 2DJ 0115 928 2896 rpmsquaredancing@aol.com www.uksquaredancing.com Canadians & Americans in Southern England 023 9241 3881 contactcase@casecommunity.com Canadian Womens Club 1 Grosvenor Square, London W1K 4AB Tues – Thurs 10.30-3.30 0207 258 6344 info@canadianwomenlondon.org www.canadianwomenlondon.org Chilterns American Women’s Club PO Box 445, Gerrards Cross, Bucks, SL9 8YU membership@cawc.co.uk www.cawc.co.uk
American Women of Surrey PO Box 185, Cobham, Surrey KT11 3YJ. www.awsurrey.org
Colonial Dames of America Chapter XI London. President Anne K Brewster: AnneBrewster@hotmail.com
American Women’s Association of Yorkshire The Chalet, Scarcroft Grange, Wetherby Road, Scarcroft, Leeds LS14 3HJ. 01224 744 224 Contact: Carol Di Peri
Daughters of the American Revolution – St James’s Chapter Mrs Natalie Ward, 01379 871422 nattyward@aol.com or UKDARStJames@aol.com http://mysite.verizon.net/jean.sutton/main.htm
The American Women’s Club of Dublin P.O. Box 2545, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 IRELAND www.awcd.net info@awcd.net
Daughters of the American Revolution – Walter Hines Page Chapter Diana Frances Diggines, Regent dardiana@hotmail.co.uk www.dar.org
American Women’s Club of London 68 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3LQ. 020 7589 8292 awc@awclondon.org www.awclondon.org
Daughters of the American Revolution – Washington Old Hall Chapter, North Yorkshire Mrs. Gloria Hassall, 01845 523-830
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Delta Kappa Gamma Society International Great Britain President: Mrs Sandra Blacker, 22 Manor Park, Tunbridge Wells www.deltakappagamma.net
Petroleum Women’s Club Contact: Nancy Ayres. Tel: 01923 711720 nanayrs@btopenworld.com
Delta Zeta International Sorority Alumna Club Mrs Sunny Eades, The Old Hall, Mavesyn Ridware, Nr. Rugeley, Staffordshire, WSI5 3QE. 01543 490 312 SunnyEades@aol.com
Petroleum Women’s Club of Scotland Executive Secretary: Mrs. Sue Dalgleish PO Box 77, Aberdeen AB15 4QU pwcscotland@yahoo.co.uk www.pwcos.com
English-Speaking Union Director-General Peter Kyle Dartmouth House, 37 Charles Street, London W1J 5ED. Tel: 020 7529 1550 Fax: 0207 495 6108 esu@esu.org Friends of Benjamin Franklin House Director: Dr. Márcia Balisciano Benjamin Franklin House, 36 Craven St, London WC2N 5NF 0207 839 2006 www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org info@benjaminfranklinhouse.org Hampstead Women’s Club President - Betsy Lynch. Tel: 020 7435 2226 email president@hwcinlondon.co.uk www.hwcinlondon.co.uk International American Duplicate Bridge Club Contact: Mary Marshall, 18 Palace Gardens Terrace, London W8 4RP. 020 7221 3708 www.ycbc.co.uk/american.htm Kensington & Chelsea Men’s Club Contact: John Rickus 70 Flood Street, Chelsea, London SW3 5TE. (home): 020 7349 0680 (office): 020 7753 2253 johnrickus@aol.com Kensington & Chelsea Women’s Club President: Mary Narvell. Tel. 0142 693 3348 president@kcwc.org.uk Membership: 0207 863 7562 (ans service). membership@kcwc.org.uk New Neighbors Diana Parker, Rosemary Cottage, Rookshill, Rickmansworth, Herts WD3 4HZ. 01923 772185 North American Connection (West Midlands) PO Box 10543, Knowle, Solihull, West Midlands. B93 8ZY T: 0870 720 0663 info@naconnect.com www.naconnect.com Northwood Area Women’s Club P.O. Box 46, Northwood, HA6 1XN 01932-830295 info@northwoodareawomensclub.co.uk www.northwoodareawomensclub.co.uk Stars of Great Britain Chapter #45 Washington Jurisdiction
60 September 2012
Air Force Sergeants Association European Division Timothy W. Litherland CMSgt, USAF (ret). Chapters at RAFs Alconbury, Croughton, Lakenheath, Menwith Hill and Mildenhall. tim_lith@msn.com www.afsadiv16.org
Lakenheath, England sogb45@yahoo.com http://starsofgreatbritainchapter45.com
Pilgrims of Great Britain Allington Castle, Maidstone, Kent M16 0NB. Tel. 01622 606404Fax. 01622 606402 sec@pilgrimsociety.org
American Legion London Post 1 Adjutant J.H. Spiller, III PO Box 5017, BATH, BA1 OPP Tel: 01225-426245 www.amlegionpost1london.org.uk info@amlegionpost1london.org.uk
Propeller Club of the United States – London, England propellerclubhq.com St John’s Wood Women’s Club President: Sue Rushmore Box 185, 176 Finchley Road, London NW3 6BT Membership: Sandy Asher membership@sjwwc.org www.sjwwc.org
Bentwaters/Woodbridge Retirees’ Association President: Wylie Moore. 2 Coldfair Close, Knodishall, Saxmundham, Suffolk, IP17 1UN. 01728 830281
Thames Valley American Women’s Club Contact: Miriam Brewster PO Box 1687, Maidenhead, Berks SL6 8XT. 0208 751 8941 www.tvawc.com membership@tvawc.com
British Patton Historical Society Kenn Oultram 01606 891303 Brookwood American Cemetery (WW1) Superintendent: Mr Frank Kaufmann. Brookwood, Woking, Surrey GU24 0BL 01483 473237 brookwood.ac@abmc-er.org
UK Panhellenic Association Contact Susan Woolf, 10 Coniston Court, High St. Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex HA1 3LP. 020 8864 0294 susanrwoolf@hotmail.com
Cambridge American Cemetery (WWII Cemetary) Superintendent: Mr. Bobby Bell. Asst. Superintendent: Mr. Tony Barclay. Coton, Cambridge CB23 7PH. 01954 210350
United Kingdom Shrine OASIS Anglian Shrine Club Secretary: Charles A. Aldrich, 11 Burrow Drive, Lakenheath, Suffolk IP27 9EY 01842 860 650 mailto:caaldrich@btinterner.com
Commander in Chief, US Naval Forces Europe Naval Reserve Detachment 130, Recruiting Officer: LCDR Thomas D. Hardin, USNR-R. 020 7409 4259 (days), 020 8960 7395 (evenings).
W.E.B. DuBois Consistory #116 Northern Jurisdiction Valley of London, England Orient of Europe Cell: 0776-873-8030 mjack36480@aol.com Women’s Writers Network Contact: Cathy Smith. 23 Prospect Road, London, NW2 2JU. 020 7794 5861 www.womenwriters.org.uk info@womenwriters.org.uk
MILITARY AFJROTC 073 Lakenheath High School. Tel: 01638 525603
Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association London Chapter Secretary: CW04, A.H. Cox, USN, Navcommunit Box 44, 7 North Audley Street, London W1Y 1WJ. 020 7409 4519/4184 www.afcea.org.uk london.sec@afcea.org.uk
Eighth Air Force Historical Society UK Representative: Mr. Gordon Richards and Mrs Connie Richards 14 Pavenham Road, Oakley, Bedford MK43 7SY. 01234 823357. Friends of the Eighth Newsletter (FOTE News) Chairman: Mr. Ron Mackay. 39b Thorley Hill, Bishops Stortford, Herts CM23 3NE. 01279 658619.
Joint RAF Mildenhall/Lakenheath Retiree Affairs Office Director: Col. John J. Valentine, USAF (Ret) Unit 8965, Box 30 RAF Mildenhall, Bury St. Edmonds, Suffolk, IP28 8NF Tel. (01638) 542039 rao@mildenhall.af.mil
The American
Marine Corps League Detachment 1088, London, England Commandant Mike Allen Creek Cottage, 2 Pednormead End, Old Chesham, Buckinghamshire HP5 2JS detachment1088@mcl-london-uk.org www.mcl-london-uk.org
Phone: 01280 708182 e-mail: 422abg.rao@croughton.af.mil
USNA Alumni Association UK Chapter Pres: LCDR Tim Fox ’97, timfox97@hotmail.com Vice Pres: Miguel Sierra ’90, mrsierra@chevron.com Treas/Membership Coord: Bart O’Brien ’98, bartonobrien2@yahoo.com Secretary: Matt Horan ’87, matthoran@btinternet.com
Mildenhall Retirees Association President: Jack Kramer 6 Nunsgate, Thetford, Norfolk 1P24 3EL
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States Commander: Ernest Paolucci 24, rue Gerbert, 75015 Paris, France 00 33 (0)1.42.50.96.34
Navy League of the United States, United Kingdom Council Council President: Steven G. Franck steven.franck@googlemail.com www.navyleague.org
Western UK Retiree Association President: R. Jim Barber, MSgt (USAF), Ret Phone: 01280 708182
Non-Commissioned Officers’ Association (NCOA) – The Heart of England Chapter Chairman: Ronald D.Welper. Pine Farm, Sharpe’s Corner, Lakenheath, Brandon, Suffolk 1P27 9LB. Thetford 861643. The Chapter Address: 513 MSSQ/SS, RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk.
EDUCATIONAL ACS International Schools ACS Cobham International School, Heywood, Portsmouth Road, Cobham, Surrey KT11 1BL 01932 867251
Society of American Military Engineers (UK) UK address: Box 763, USAFE Construction Directorate. 86 Blenheim Crescent, West Ruislip, Middlesex HA4 7HL London Post. President: W. Allan Clarke. Secretary: Capt. Gary Chesley. Membership Chairman, Mr. Jim Bizier. US Army Reserve 2nd Hospital Center 7 Lynton Close, Ely, Cambs, CB6 1DJ. Tel: 01353 2168 Commander: Major Glenda Day. US Air Force Recruiting Office RAF Mildenhall, 100 MSS/MSPRS, RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, 1P28 8NF. 01638 542290 Retired Affairs Office, RAF Alconbury Serving Central England POC: Rex Keegan Alt. POC: Mike Depasquale UK Postal Address: 423 SVS/RAO, Unit 5585, Box 100, RAF Alconbury, Huntingdon, Cambs PE28 4DA Office Hours: Tuesday and Friday, 10:30am–2:30pm 01480 84 3364/3557 Emergency Contact: 07986 887 905 RAO@Alconbury.af.mil 2nd Air Division Memorial Library The Forum, Norwich, Norfolk, NR2 1AW 01603 774747 www.2ndair.org.uk 2admemorial.lib@norfolk.gov.uk USAF Retiree Activities Office Director: Paul G Gumbert, CMSgt (USAF), Ret 422 ABG/CVR Unit 5855, PSC 50, Box 3 RAF Croughton, Northants NN13 5XP
ACS Egham International School, Woodlee, London Road (A30), Egham, Surrey TW20 0HS. 01784 430800 ACS Hillingdon International School Hillingdon Court, 108 Vine Line, Hillingdon, Middlesex UB10 0BE. 01895 259771 www.acs-england.co.uk
AIU/London (formerly American College in London) 110 Marylebone High Street, London W1U 4RY. Tel 020 7467 5640 Fax 020 7935 8144 www.aiulondon.ac.ukadmissions@aiulondon.ac.uk Alconbury Middle/High School RAF Alconbury, Huntingdon, Cambs, PE17 1PJ, UK. www.alco-hs.eu.dodea.edu AlconburyHS.Principal@eu.dodea.edu American Institute for Foreign Study 37 Queensgate, London SW7 5HR 020 7581 7300 www.aifs.co.uk info@aifs.co.uk American School in London 1 Waverley Place, London NW8 0NP Tel: 020 7449 1200 Fax: 020 7449 1350 www.asl.org admissions@asl.org American School of Aberdeen Craigton Road, Cults, Aberdeen. 01224 861068 / 868927. Benjamin Franklin House 36 Craven Street, London WC2N 5NF. Tel 020 7839 2006 Fax 020 7930 9124 info@benjaminfranklinhouse.org
Boston University – London Graduate Programs Office 43 Harrington Gardens, London SW7 4JU. 020 7244 6255 www.bu.edu/london British American Educational Foundation Mrs. Carlton Colcord, 1 More’s Garden, 90 Cheyne Walk, London SW3. 020 7352 8288 www.baef.org anncolcord@compuserve.com BUNAC Student Exchange Employment Program Director: Callum Kennedy, 16 Bowling Green Lane, London EC1R 0QH. 020 7251 3472 www.bunac.org enquiries@bunac.org.uk Center Academy School Development Centre 92 St. John’s Hill, Battersea, London SW11 1SH. Tel 020 7738 2344 Fax 020 7738 9862 ukadmin@centeracademy.com Central Bureau for Educational Visits The British Council Director: Peter Upton 10 Spring Gardens, London SW1A 2BN 020 7389 4004 Wales 029 2039 7346, Scotland 0131 447 8024 centralbureau@britishcouncil.org Council on International Educational Exchange Dr. Michael Woolf, 52 Portland Street, London WIV 1JQ Tel 020 7478 2000 Fax 020 7734 7322 www.ciee.org contact@ciee.org Ditchley Foundation Ditchley Park, Enstone, Chipping Norton, Oxon OX7 4ER. Tel 01608 677346 Fax 1608 677399 www.ditchley.co.uk info@ditchley.co.uk European Council of International Schools Jean K Vahey, Executive Director, 21b Lavant Street, Petersfield GU32 3EL. Tel 01730 268244 Fax 01730 267914 www.ecis.org ecis@ecis.org European-Atlantic Group PO Box 37431, London N3 2XP 020 8632 9253 justinglass@btinternet.com www.eag.org.uk Florida State University London Study Centre Administrative Director: Kathleen Paul 99 Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3LH. Tel 020 7813 3233 Fax 020 7813 3270 www.international.fsu.edu/london/ intprog1@admin.fsu.edu Fordham University London Centre Academic Coordinator: Sabina Antal 23 Kensington Square, London W8 5HQ
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Regents American College Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4NS. 020 7486 9605. www.regents.ac.uk exrel@regents.ac.uk
020 7937 5023 londoncentre@fordham.edu www.fordham.edu
Harlaxton College UK Campus, University of Evansville Harlaxton Manor, Grantham, Lincolnshire NG32 1AG. Grantham 4541 4761. Tel 01476 403000 Fax 01476 403030 harlaxton.ac.uk. Huron University USA in London 46-47 Russell Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 4JP Tel +44 (0) 20 7636 5667 Fax+44 (0) 20 7299 3297 folu@huron.ac.uk www.huron.ac.uk Institute for Study Abroad Butler University, 21 Pembridge Gardens, London W2 4EB 020 7792 8751 http://www.ifsa-butler.org/england-overview.html Institute for the Study of the Americas Director: Professor James Dunkerley. Tel 020 7862 8879 Fax 020 7862 8886 americas@sas.ac.uk www.americas.sas.ac.uk International School of Aberdeen 296 North Deeside Road, Milltimber, Aberdeen, AB13 0AB 01224 732267 www.isa.aberdeen.sch.uk admin@isa.aberdeen.sch.uk International School of London 139 Gunnersbury Avenue, London W3 8LG. 020 8992 5823. www.islondon.com mail@ISLondon.com International School of London in Surrey Old Woking Road, Woking GU22 8HY Tel +44 (0)1483 750409 Fax +44 (0)1483 730962 www.islsurrey.com mail@islsurrey.com Ithaca College London Centre 35 Harrington Gardens, London SW7. Tel. 020 7370 1166 www.ithaca.edu/london bsheasgreen@ithacalondon.co.uk Marymount International School, London Headmistress: Ms Sarah Gallagher George Road, Kingston upon Thames, KT2 7PE Tel: 020 8949 0571 info@marymountlondon.com www.marymountlondon.com Missouri London Study Abroad Program 32 Harrington Gardens, London SW7 4JU. 020 7373 7953. www.umsl.edu/services/abroad/universities/ molondon.html web_office@umsl.edu
62 September 2012
Richmond, The American International University in London Richmond Hill Campus,Queen’s Road Richmond-upon Thames TW10 6JP Tel: +44 20 8332 9000 Fax: +44 20 8332 1596 enroll@richmond.ac.uk www.richmond.ac.uk Schiller International University Royal Waterloo House, 51-55 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8TX. Tel. 020 7928 1372 www.schillerlondon.ac.uk admissions@schillerlondon.ac.uk Sotheby’s Institute of Art Postgraduate Art studies, plus day /evening courses 30 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3EE Tel: 0207 462 3232 www.sothebysinstitute.com info@sothebysinstitute.com
Wickham Court School, Schiller International Layhams Road, West Wickham, Kent BR4 9HW. Tel 0208 777 2942 Fax 0208 777 4276 Wickham@schillerintschool.com www.wickhamcourt.org.uk Wroxton College Fairleigh Dickinson Univ.,Wroxton, Nr. Banbury, Oxfordshire OX15 6PX. Tel. 01295 730551 http://view.fdu.edu/default.aspx?id=326 admin@wroxton-college.ac.uk
ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONS Alliant International University (formerly United States International University) England Chapter Alumni Association Chapter President: Eric CK Chan c/o Regents College London, Inner Circle, Regents Park, London, UK University: www.alliant.edu chane@regents.ac.uk
Southbank International Schools Kensington and Hampstead campuses for 3-11 year olds; Westminster campuses for 11-18 year olds. Director of Admissions: MargaretAnne Khoury Tel: 020 7243 3803 Fax: 020 7727 3290 admissions@southbank.org www.southbank.org
Amherst College Bob Reichert RAreichert26b@aol.com
TASIS England, American School Coldharbour Lane, Thorpe, Nr. Egham, Surrey TW20 8TE. Tel: 01932 565252 Fax: 01932 564644 http://england.tasis.com ukadmissions@tasisengland.org
Association of MBAs Leo Stemp, Events Administrator Tel 020 7837 3375 (ext. 223) Fax 020-7278-3634 l.stemp@mba.org.uk
University of Notre Dame London Program 1 Suffolk Street, London SW1Y 4HG 020 7484 7811 london@nd.edu http://www.nd.edu/~ndlondon/lup/future/ introduction.htm US-UK Fulbright Commission Dir. of Advisory Service: Lauren Welch 020 7498 4010 Dir. of Awards: Michael Scott-Kline, 020 7498 4014 Battersea Power Station, 188 Kirtling Street, London SW8 5BN www.fulbright.co.uk
Andover/Abbot Association of London Jeffrey Hedges ‘71, President 07968 513 631 hedgeslon@hotmail.com
Babson College Frank de Jongh Swemer, Correspondence W 020 7932 7514 babson.alumni@btinternet.com Barnard College Club Hiromi Stone, President. Tel. 0207 935 3981 barnardclubgb@yahoo.co.uk The Berkeley in Britain Club Kathleen Granados, Officer / Waleed Julier, Officer matthewdaines@californiahouse.org.uk amyambrose@berkeley.edu
Warnborough University International Office, Friars House, London SE1 8HB. Tel 020 7922 1200 Fax: 020 7922 1201 www.warnborough.edu. admin@warnborough.edu
Boston College Alumni Club UK Craig Zematis, President +44 7717 878968 BCalumniclub@gmail.com www.alumniconnections.com/olc/pub/BTN/cpages/ chapters/home.jsp?chapter=41&org=BTN
Webster Graduate Studies Center Regent’s College, Regent’s Park, Inner Circle, London NW1 4NS, UK. Tel: 020 7487 7505 Fax: 020 7487 7425 www.webster.ac.uk webster@regents.ac.uk
Boston University Alumni Association of the UK Will Straughn, Snr International Development Officer, University Development and Alumni Relations, 43 Harrington Gardens, Kensington, London SW7 4JU 020 7244 2908 020 7373 7411 bstraugh@bu.edu
The American
Brandeis Alumni Club of Great Britain Joan Bovarnick, President http://alumni.brandeis.edu office@alumni.brandeis.edu Brown University Club of the United Kingdom President: Tugba Erem Vice President: Caroline Cook Secretary: Pinar Emirdag Treasurer: Mikus Kins Events: Ramya Moothathu Communication: Patrick Attie Alumni Club & Liaison: Vanessa Van Hoof Former President: Ed Giberti edgibertiwgcuk@aol.com. Brown Club UK, Box 57100, London, EC1P 1RB contact@brownuk.org www.brownuk.org Bryn Mawr Club President: Lady Quinton. c/o Wendy Tiffin, 52 Lansdowne Gardens, London SW8 2EF. Wendy Tiffin, Secretary/Treasurer wendytif@ukgateway.net Claremont Colleges Alumni in London Hadley Beeman hadley_beeman@alumni.cmc.edu Colgate Club of London Stephen W Solomon ‘76, President 0207 349 0738 swsolomon@hotmail.com Columbia University Club of London Stephen Jansen, President london@alumniclubs.columbia.edu www.alumniclubs.columbia.edu/london Cornell Club of London Natalie Teich, President nmt4@cornell.edu www.alumni.cornell.edu/orgs/int/London Dartmouth College Club of London Sanjay Gupta, Officer Andrew Rotenberg, Officer sanjay.gupta.96@ alum.dartmouth.org andrew.l.rotenberg.92@alum.dartmouth.org www.dartmouth.org Delta Kappa Gamma Society International For information about the Society in Great Britain go to our website www.deltakappagamma.org/GB. There are links to all the USA and other international members’ sites. Delta Sigma Pi Business Fraternity London Alumni Chapter. Ashok Arora, P O Box 1110, London W3 7ZB. 020 8423 8231 bertela@yahoo.com www.dspnet.org Duke University Club of England Ms Robin Buck buckrobin@yahoo.com
Ohio University UK & Ireland Frank Madden, 1 Riverway, Barry Avenue, Windsor, Berks. SL4 5JA. Tel 01753 855 360 Fax 01753 868 855 frank@madant.demon.co.uk
Tim Warmath timwarmath@yahoo.com Kate Bennett jkbennett@btinternet.com www.dukealumni.com/england
Emory University Alumni Chapter of the UK Matthew Williams, Chapter Leader 079 8451 4119 matthew.eric.williams@gmail.com www.alumni.emory.edu/chapters-and-groups/ chapters/international.html
Penn Alumni Club of the UK David Lapter Tel. 07957 146 470 david.lapter@alumni.upenn.edu
Georgetown Alumni Club Alexa Fernandez, President GeorgetownLondon@Yahoo.com
Penn State Alumni Association Penn State Alumni Association Ron Nowicki 0207 226 7681 pennstatelondon@yahoo.co.uk www.alumni.psu.edu
Gettysburg College Britt-Karin Oliver brittkarin@aol.com Harvard Business School Club of London www.hbsa.org.uk
Princeton Association (UK) Carol Rahn, President Jon Reades, Young Alumni carol.rahn@orange-ftgroup.com jon@reades.com www.alumni.princeton.edu
Harvard Club of Great Britain Brandon Bradkin, President president@hcuk.org www.hcuk.org Indiana University Alumni club of England Anastasia Tonello, President 020 7253 4855 iuinlondon@yahoo.com www.alumni.indiana.edu/clubs/england
Rice Alumni of London Kathy Wang Tel. 07912 560 177 kathyw@alumni.rice.edu Skidmore College Alumni Club, London Peggy Holden Briggs ‘84, co-ordinator peggyhbriggs@gmail.com 07817 203611
KKG London Alumnae Association emilymerrell@gmail.com LMU Alumni Club London (Loyola Marymount University) Kent Jancarik 07795 358 681 kent@jancarik.com Marymount University Alumni UK Chapter President: Mrs Suzanne Tapley, 35 Park Mansions, Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7QT. Tel 020 7581 3742 MIT Club of Great Britain Yiting Shen Flat 8a, 36 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6PB Tel: 0789 179 3823 yshen@alum.mit.edu http://alumweb.mit.edu/clubs/uk/ Mount Holyoke Club of Britain Rachel L. Elwes, President rlelwes@yahoo.com Karen K. Bullivant Vice-President kkbullivant@alumnae.mtholyoke.edu www.mtholyoke.co.uk Notre Dame Club of London Hannah Gornik , Secretary ND_Club_London@yahoo.co.uk NYU STERN UK Alumni Club Matthieu Gervis, President sternukalumniclub@hotmail.com
Smith College Club of London Kathleen Merrill, President smithclubgb@googlemail.com http://alumnae.smith.edu
Stanford Business School Alumni Association (UK Chapter) Robby Arnold, President Lesley Anne Hunt, Events robby@blueyonder.co.uk lesley.hunt@blueyonder.co.uk www.stanfordalumni.org.uk Texas Tech Alumni Association – London Chapter David Mirmelli, Ferhat Guven, Bobby Brents president@texastechalumni.org.uk www.TexasTechAlumni.org.uk Texas Exes UK (UKTE) President: Carra Kane 7 Edith Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 8TW 0778 660 7534 carrakane@alumni.utexas.net www.fornogoodreason.com/UKTEMain.htm Texas A&M Club London Ashley Lilly, Co-President Devin Howard, Co-President london@aggienetwork.com http://clubs.aggienetwork.com/londonamc/
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The John Adams Society Contact: Muddassar Ahmed c/o Unitas Communications, Palmerston House, 80-86 Old Street, London EC1V 9AZ 0203 308 2358 johnadamssociety@unitascommunications.com www.johnadamssociety.co.uk Tufts - London Tufts Alliance Vikki Garth Londontuftsalliance@yahoo.com UK Dawgs of the University of Georgia Rangana Abdulla ukdawgs@hotmail.com UMass Alumni Club UK Julie Encarnacao, President (0)20 7007 3869 julesje32@gmail.com University of California Matthew Daines (Program Director) 17 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3JA 020 7079 0567 matthewdaines@californiahouse.org.uk University of Chicago UK Alumni Association President c/o Alumni Affairs and Development – Europe University of Chicago Booth School of Business Woolgate Exchange, 25 Basinghall Street, London EC2V 5HA Tel +44(0)20 7070 2245 Fax +44(0)20 7070 2250 www.ChicagoBooth.edu University of Illinois Alumni Club of the UK Amy Barklam, President 07796 193 466 amybarklam@msn.com University of North Carolina Alumni Club Brad Matthews, Club Leader 2 The Orchards, Hill View Road, Woking GU22 7LS brad.matthews@alumni.unc.edu http://alumni.unc.edu University of Michigan Alumni Association Regional Contact: Jessica Cobb, BA ’97 +44 (0) 788-784-0941 jesscobb@yahoo.com http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/umich_uk_alumni/
University of Rochester/Simon School UK Alumni Association Ms. Julie Bonne, Co-President 0118-956-5052 julie_bonne@yahoo.com
University of Southern California, Alumni Club of London Jennifer Ladwig, President Chuck Cramer, Treasurer usclondon@gmail.com www.usclondonalumni.org University of Virginia Alumni Club of London Kirsten Jellard, 020 7368 8473
64 September 2012
londonuvaclub@yahoo.com http://members.aol.com/UKUVACLUB/UVA-london.htm
Uxbridge, Middlesex, UB8 3TA email membership@soskan.co.uk
USNA Alumni Association, UK Chapter President: LCDR Greta Densham ‘00 (gretaj@mac.com) Vice President/Treasurer: Tim Fox ‘97 (timfox97@ hotmail.com) Secretary: Mike Smith ‘84 (Mike.Smith@polycom.com) Facebook Group - USNA Alumni Association, UK Chapter
SPORTS
Vassar College Club Sara Hebblethwaite, President 18 Redgrave Road, London, SW15 1PX +44 020 8788 6910 sara.hebblethwaite@virgin.net Warnborough Worldwide Alumni Association c/o International Office, Friars House, London SE1 8HB. Tel. 020 7922 1200 Fax. 020 7922 1201 http://www.wwaa.info/ admin@warnborough.edu Wellesley College Club Ana Ericksen, President. ana@ericksenuk.com Wharton Business School Club of the UK Yoav Kurtzbard, President Claire Watkins, Administrator 020-7447-8800 ykurtzbard@youngassoc.com cwatkins@youngassoc.com Williams Club of Great Britain Ethan Kline: ethankline@gmail.com Yale Club of London Joe Vittoria, President president@yale.org.uk Scott Fletcher, Events events@yale.org.uk Nick Baskey, Secretary secretary@yale.org.uk www.yale.org.uk Zeta Tau Alpha Alumnae Kristin Morgan 07812 580949 kristinamorgan@gmail.com www.zetataualpha.org
ARTS North American Actors Association Chief Executive: Ms. Laurence Bouvard Americanactors@aol.com 07873 371 891
CIVIL WAR SOCIETIES American Civil War Round Table (UK) Sandra Bishop 5 Southdale, Chigwell, Essex IG7 5NN sandra-bishop@hotmail.com www.americancivilwar.org.uk Southern Skirmish Association (SoSkan) Membership Secretary, Bob Isaac, 3 Hilliards Road,
Eagles Golf Society Sharon Croley c/o Eventful Services, 49 Hastings Road, Croydon, Surrey CRO 6PH sharoncroley@blueyonder.co.uk English Lacrosse The Belle Vue Centre, Pink Bank Lane, Longsight, Manchester M12 5GL 0161.227.3626 www.englishlacrosse.co.uk info@englishlacrosse.co.uk British Baseball Federation/ BaseballSoftballUK 5th Floor, Ariel House, 74a Charlotte Street, London W1T 4QJ. 020 7453 7055 British Morgan Horse Society 01942 886141 www.morganhorse.org.uk admin@morganhorse.org.uk Ice Hockey UK 19 Heather Avenue, Rise Park, Romford RM1 4SL Tel. 07917 194 264 Fax. 1708 725241 www.icehockeyuk.co.uk ihukoffice@yahoo.co.uk Herts Baseball Club Adult & Little League Baseball www.hertsbaseball.com LondonSports Instruction and competitive play in baseball, basketball and football (soccer), for boys and girls aged 4-15, newcomers or experienced players. Learn about and play sports in a safe, fun environment. We welcome children of all nationalities. www.londonsports.com vll@me.com London Warriors American Football Club Contact: Kevin LoPrimo info@londonwarriorsafc.co.uk www.londonwarriorsafc.co.uk Mildenhall EELS Swim Team International and local competitions for ages 6-19. Contact Coach Robin flv4@hotmail.com
Every effort is made to ensure that listings in the information guide are correct and current. If your entry requires amendments please notify us immediately. We rely on you to keep us informed. Telephone 01747 830520, Fax 01747 830691 or email us at theamerican@blueedge.co.uk. We would be pleased to receive news or short articles about your organisation for possible publication in The American.
The American RESTAURANTS
Suppliers of quality products and services hand-picked for you ACCOUNTANCY & TAX BDO LLP The UK member firm of the world’s fifth largest accountancy organisation. 55 Baker Street, London W1U 7EU 020 7486 5888 info@bdo.co.uk www.bdo.uk.com Jaffe & Co., incorp. American Tax International Comprehensive tax preparation and compliance service for U.S. expatriates in the UK and Europe. America House, 54 Hendon Lane, London N3 1TT 0800 085 1537 or 020 8346 5237 www.americantaxonline.com Xerxes Associates LLP Fixed Fee U.S. & UK Individual Tax Compliance, Consulting & Planning. Tel: +44(0)207 411 9026 Fax: +44(0)207 411 9051 www.xerxesllp.com
GROCERY Panzer’s Family-run deli in St. John’s Wood, established over 50 years. 13-19 Circus Road, St John’s Wood, London NW8 6PB 020 7722 8596 www.panzers.co.uk Lidgate Butchers Organic meats from a 150 year old business now run by the the fifth generation of the same family. 110 Holland Park Avenue, London W11 4UA Tel. 0207 727 8243 www.lidgates.com
LEGAL
CLEANING SERVICES Shine Cleaning Inc. Ltd Successful for over 20 years in the U.S. – now over here in Britain. All kinds of cleaning: Residential, Commercial, Medical, One-off or Contract. 0800 206 2212 or 078 2753 7215 www.shinecleaninginc.co.uk
EDUCATION Florida State University in UK Over 50 years of experience in international education. 99 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LA 020 7813 3223 www.international.fsu.edu
VIDEO / TELEVISION Jim Garnett - Cameraman 27 years’ experience in television, magazines and newspapers – Full professional gear in both NTSC [USA/Canada] and PAL formats. Used by ‘Entertainment Tonight’, CBC, CTV National, CTV Toronto, CTV Sports, Global TV and Channel Zero. Tel. 07930-100909 http://jimgarnettphotography.blogspot.co.uk
COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY Transitions Therapy
Kingsley Napley LLP Family lawyers with particular experience in dealing with cases involving Americans living here and abroad. 020 7814 1200 www.kingsleynapley.co.uk
ANTIQUES & COLLECTABLES Stephen T Taylor Your American stamp dealer in Britain since 1995. 5 Glenbuck Road, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 6BS 020 8390 9357 info@stephentaylor.co.uk www.stephentaylor.co.uk
La Capanna The Finest Italian Food served in the loveliest of Surrey’s settings. 48 High Street, Cobham, Surrey KT11 3EF 01932 862 121 www.lacapanna.co.uk
MEDICAL & DENTAL The American Women’s Health Centre (AWHC) OB GYN Based in the West End of London, at the heart of medical excellence in Britain. Third Floor, 214 Great Portland Street, London W1W 5QN 020 7390 8433 info@AWHC.co.uk www.awhc.co.uk
Psychotherapy & Counselling for Expatriate Individuals, Couples, Families & Adolescents in the West End. London, England, United Kingdom 07557 261432 in the UK or 0044 7557 261432 from another country. Skype sessions available around the world. transitions_therapy@hotmail.com www.transitionstherapy.co.uk
To find out whether you’re eligible to advertise your products and services here, and for rates, call Sabrina Sully on +44 (0)1747 830520. You’ll reach Americans living in and visiting the UK as well as Britons who like American culture and products.
Coffee Break Answers
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1. London Gatwick; 2. London Waterloo; 3. Newark Liberty International; 4. Ben Nevis in Scotland, 1344m above sea level; 5. Empire State (443m), Space Needle (184m), Statue of Liberty (93m); 6. It’s a maritime signal flag, saying that a boat is leaving harbor; 7. Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Maryland; 8. Red and white stripes; 9. Charles Darwin; 10. F. Scott Fitzgerald; 11. Thomas Paine; 12. Samuel Richardson; 13. The Republic of Liberia; 14. The Lincoln Memorial Tower, Lambeth; 15. Bill Clinton; 16. Millard Fillmore; 17. They all do.
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