Election Day

It's hard to avoid the jitters and excitement of the US elections even over here in the UK. We're waiting with baited breath to hear the results, but we're not feeling very optimistic. Given the look of the polls (a close race), memories of the "slightly criminal" 2000 election, mishandling of absentee ballots this year, and new reports of vote-rigging in the swing states, the outlook is quite bleak.

On the BBC right now, there is live coverage of the Clintons casting their votes, the old-fashioned way, in a voting booth. I wonder who they voted for? Now cut to Kerry arriving in Boston at the end of his campaign trail.

I, of course, cannot vote because I am not a US citizen. However, Kristen sent in her absentee ballot a week or two ago. Then we heard the news that Broward County has "mishandled" 58,000 absentee ballots (a huge percentage of people never received them). If that happened on outgoing votes, what happens to the incoming votes? Will Kristen's vote even be counted?!?

So, to say we're eager to find out the results, is an understatement. However, due to the time difference, the earliest we can find out is around midnight tonight. There is an election results special tonight on the BBC at 23.50, but I don't know if we'll stay up the late! Maybe I will.

-RP-

In Other News

I can never decide which country is more of a "Nanny State", the US or the UK. How ridiculous is this!?!!

Britain Weighs Ban on Smacking Children

This week is "Reading Week" at UEA. That means that most classes are not meeting and the students ideally stay home to study. Some people use it as a vacation. While I'm definitely taking advantage of the time off, I still have a couple of classes to attend (Early British TV today and Archiving on Thursday and Friday) and some reading to catch up on. I'm going to be a GOOD STUDENT!

-RP-

The Chirping of Crickets...

Sorry for the lack of activity over the last couple of weeks. We've both been really busy. Please stay tuned over the next few days for some updates (which will be BELOW this post on the appropriate days).

Bung-Plug in the Bung-Hole

On Tuesday and Wednesday I volunteered at the 27th Annual Norwich Beer Festival, put on by the Norwich chapter of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale). It's a fairly large festival showcasing about 200 cask-conditioned Real Ales from UK breweries. There is also a tent with over 100 bottled beers (most of them Belgian). It is a week-long festival which started on Monday and runs through Saturday.

On Tuesday I was a "Steward" (standing by a doorway and telling people they couldn't go in there) from 5pm to 11:00pm. Then I helped roll out the empty casks, roll in the new ones and hoist them up to the serving platform. Got home at around 12:45, but also tried quite a few beers over the course of the evening.

I went back for more punishment on Wednesday. Same hours, but this time I pushed to get behind the bar instead of "Stewarding". A lot more fun and the time went by really quickly. I'm not sure how many beers I poured, but there was a continuous flow of glasses coming at me.

I'll go back on Sunday at 8am to help them break down all the equipment and move it out of the festival hall. Just doing my part for CAMRA!

Official Phestival Photos

-RP-