The Week in Review

In an effort to keep our carbon footprint in line with the average American's, we will be flying to New York City TOMORROW. If you live there, hopefully we'll see you. If you're getting married there this Saturday (you know who you are), we will see you!

Now, with that out of the way, let's talk about the rest of this week. God bless America! A little after midnight last night, Josh and I made a bag of microwave popcorn, grabbed the Halloween candy, and settled in to watch the election coverage on BBC. It was odd to see it 'unfold' from afar. I know I am relieved that the whole thing is over, so I imagine those who've actually been subjected to all the commercials and newscasts and phone calls and newspapers are even more so. We still find it bemusing that the UK had full 'US08: America Decides' coverage beginning at 11ish PM, about when the first state's polls would close and when most people head to bed, and continuing throughout the night. We do think the British love a good competition, so the little tally in the corner and the interactive maps seemed appropriate. However, I would tend to guess their own elections are not nearly so well-covered! But then ours aren't always so exciting, either...

I heard a few interesting comments yesterday about the election. First, someone asked if there were commercials (actually, he said 'adverts') during the returns because he imagined those would be profitable viewing slots for big companies. I suppose the question isn't too odd, considering BBC channels have no commercials at all, but I almost didn't know what to say. My answer was, yes, of course there will be commercials, and often. But I think he was expecting the whole thing to be more of a race or a match, 90 minutes in and out, with a moment of suspense at the end when everyone tunes in. I don't remember ever watching all the election results come in from start to finish on one television channel. I would flip through, see who was doing what where and when and in the HOURS between returns, I'd probably do something else!

And that was the other comment. Many people were considering staying up to find out the results. I was sorry to tell them that most networks would be loathe to make another early-call mistake, and thus would probably not make a call until well after most of the east coast results were in after 8pm... or 1am here. And then the polls would continue closing and reporting all night until Alaska was done at 6am (here). It's true that the East coast electoral votes are the more volitile and could cause the race to be called early, but 1am is late for me on any Tuesday. Ah well, the whole coverage thing was a nice idea in theory that just got a little thrown by the time difference, like a Singapore Grand Prix or a Chinese Olympics.

Although I am a little tired from our late night gluttony, today felt like a holiday. The USA had pulled through for the world, elected the candidate that nearly every British person would have chosen, and proven that idealistic dream of America as the land of possibilities still exists. But wait! It actually is a holiday today! It's Guy Fawkes Night! It's the night people set off fireworks and light effigies of a 400-year-old traitor and everything else they can get a hold of on fire (but only in designated areas, Health And Safety, after all). I saw four bonfires from the train on my commute home, and the fireworks are driving me nuts. There are few things more frustrating than a firework that you can hear but not see.

Anyway, this is a rambling post. We just wanted to fill you in on our exciting week and the exciting week to come. After watching all that American news, we are feeling a bit homesick, and the trip 'home', as Josh put it last night, couldn't be timed much better. I just hope they leave those red and blue states on the ice in Rockefellar Center. I want a picture; I didn't get one last time.