Sycamore asks the British
 

Finally! I've felt so uninspired to write anything new in the past month or so...I wound up killing two newer threads that I was dissatisfied with last week.

Until the mid-90s, I didn't realize how different things were outside the US. I knew about a few things like temperature scale and distance measurement, but the internet has truly been a horizon broadener to me. And el sicómoro is fascinated by the most trivial things--in high school, my friends used to call me Cliff Clavin.

For some reason, the temperature issue came to my mind this week, and I meant to ask someone a question about temperature on ovens, but forgot. Tonight, I happened to stumble upon the TV licensing issue on the BBC's website, which jogged my memory. I knew about the TV licensing fee there, but nothing in detail.

And so, I have some questions I would like to submit to our British friends. Would you mind entertaining a goofy American for a little bit? :)

(Sheppsie, if you want to chime in here as well, go for it.)

1) What do the temperature dials look like on ovens in the UK? On my own oven, the temperature starts at 200 degrees F (considered a "warming" setting), and goes up in increments of 25 degrees up to 525 degrees. Beyond 525, there is a setting for "broil". A good chunk of our food is cooked between 350 and 475 degrees.

2) If you have cable or satellite in the UK, is your licensing fee included in the cost of the service? Or do you still have to pay the TV fee on top of the monthly cable/satellite fee?

3) What are "standard sizes" over there? For example, if I want to grab a soda at a convenience store for immediate consumption, I might grab a 20 ounce or a one liter bottle. If I'm at McDonald's, I'll buy a 32 ounce cup. A canned soda is 12 ounces. If I'm buying soda for a week, I'll either buy a couple of 2 liter bottles or a pack of 12 12 ounce cans.

4) I understand that the UK still uses miles. Is the country trying to transition over to metric, or are they holding firm in using miles? What about metric measurements on other items? For example, we tend to use imperial measurements on everything except for soda and water, which are sold in liters (though almost every item is double-marked: imperial and metric measurements).

More questions as they come to me...

Re: Sycamore asks the British
 

For that matter, I've wondered why widescreen TV adoption seems to have happened so quickly and so early in the UK compared to the US.

Why are British-export male movie leads so, well, queer?

Compared to who?
 

Tom Cruise? Ben Affleck? Matt Damon? Tobey McGuire? Leonardo DiCaprio?

I think you may be detecting a male movie star thing, rather than a UK thing in particular.

Awww, come on! I know there are at least 3 people on here that are British or have lived in the UK AND read the Manifestos.

What happened to cultural exchanges? I'll tell you anything you want to know about the US...if I know it.

i have no fucking clue on most of the questions you asked. i will answer some questions you didnt ask though, based on my observations and memories.

1. yeast extract tastes great when youre 10, but may induce vomiting in adults.

2. candy / chocolate is way better in europe.

3. roundabouts are brilliant in theory, terrifying in reality.

4. mass transportation in great. we rented a car while over there, but it was more for the experience of driving on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road. we could just as easily, and for a bit less money, used trains / taxis / buses to get anywhere in the country we wanted to go, and in many cases get there quicker.

5. i saw a *lot* of people talking to themselves. many more than i would have expected. take from that what you will.

6. i guess the licensing fees are controversial in the UK. all i know is that i saw exactly zero commercials in the small amount of time i spent watching tv. if its like that all the time, i dont really see what the big deal is. for what its worth, all i watched were the BBC stations, they have some neat shows over there.

7. in the two years i spent there, the schools taught everything temperature-related in centigrade. i imagine, but cannot confirm, that oven dials would be in centigrade. for reference, 350 F would be about 177 C.

8. the bottled sodas i picked up at the convenience stores (newsagents?) seemed to be about the same size, weight and feel of a 20 oz. bottle here. the sodas were generally made with sugar instead of corn syrup and you could get a 2 litre botlle of evian water for what came to about 95 cents.

~james

Well the, here's a question: foods wouldn't have on them "Cook at 177º for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown". That would be kinda like getting a Hot Pocket and it says "Microwave for 83 seconds." So they probably round up to, say, 180º. Which, of course, is hotter, and will cause the food to dry out more. So, the question is, why is sycamore such a big asshole?

i actually figured they would round down, 175, to prevent the drying out. i figure its much the same as it is here, in 25 degree increments, but the upper and lower numbers might be different.

~james

I don't actually care; I just wanted to get in something about sycamore being an asshole. :)

I can only speak to the oven thing. I don't know if it's still that way, but when we were there in the 70s, oven dials were marked from 1-10. No temperatures listed at all. I remember my mom working out what temperature each number corresponded to so she could cook "normally".

Interesting question. Answer: Because I can be.

But more interesting is this: Why does someone who buys every gadget in sight refuse to buy a simple clue? :)

Are they closed captioned in American?:p

"Hey, didja hear about the new apple WhatZit? It's so small that it fits in the palm of your hand, and it's only $3000!! I bought 6 just yesterday!!"

I've enjoyed what I've seen of the BBC (between Comedy Central, PBS, MTV, etc.). And I like BBC America on digital cable.

They also have fantastic radio stations.

"I didn't really need a region-free DVD player with a 100-disc changer, Dolby 5.1 sound, a toaster, and a one-year subscription to Penthouse. But why not? I make the money to pay for it. Now, where is that Subway footlong of mine...oh shit! Time for a date with the showerhead! Maybe the showerhead, the guitar, and I can three-way."