29 October 2010

Yikes! I'm a guest blogger...



Ok, my blogging buddy over at Tuxedo Inn has been so sweet as to give me some props over at her place. The thing is, I haven't blogged in a while...sooooo...you have to go back a ways to find any of the "me" bits, so I figure, in honor of our long distance friendship, I will just inject a bit of my real self back into this blog. Thing is, I haven't really done much lately...work has been exhausting, family has been exhausting and my fantasy life of being cool and doing cool things has suffered. I don't watch much tv, my back constantly goes out and ...wait a second, you don't want to hear this kind of stuff!!! Much to boring. So, let's focus on the fantasy for a mo'...
It wasn't that long ago, when my lust for all things Top Gear and of course, James May; led me to the racy, and exciting Tuxedo Inn. I am not sure exactly which Google search did it, but I remember reading the line about James May having much more fun than she did and I was pretty much hooked from my first visit. It is pretty fun to go back and read some of our interchanges from the early days, when the Doctor and Captain Jack featured heavily in our musings, and then, not long after I met Bob, her faithful Camel roomie, who has such eclectic taste in music. It has been quite a pairing, since the Innkeeper and I have post after post of lives that show many signs of having the same course on so many subjects that I have lost count, and I find it kind of amazing that we actually live in sort of the same geographical area, and that one of those infamous "meet-ups" is inevitable. Since our schedules are near polar opposite, it has been a challenge, but we are up to those...
So, it has been a fun and exciting ride, especially since I think you would be hard-pressed to find two women of our approximate ages who are just as interested in the cars as the presenters on the Infamous Top Gear. Maybe they exist, but I can't find them in my walk of life. I don't know much about horsepower and torque, I don't know exactly what a carburetor does, or how to install brake pads, but I know what I like. And I know I'd like someone to teach me about it, preferably an English bloke with a flowery shirt and wild hair, but, hey, I digress.
Justine and I have lately been enraged by America's ridiculous desire to attempt to recreate Top Gear as a show in this country. AGAIN. I thought it was slightly amusing when Jay Leno had his failed attempt at a show and did manage to almost succeed at the Reasonably priced car bit, however, I have to admit that he really didn't manage to capture that particular Britishness that Top Gear manages so well...and I think it is in that one unobtainable point that all American Top Gears will always fail. They try to hard to do something which an American can NOT do and that is be British. Look to Gwyneth Paltrow...study and learn. American men can NEVER be the TG3. That brilliant combination of Jeremy, Richard and James can not be recreated on these shores. The races from country to country, the foreign GPS voices, the Chunnel...where in America can you go for this sort of entertainment???
However, do not give up, you lovers of Englishmen and sporty cars. We have the answer for you. Justine and I have agreed to attempt an American version of Top Gear that we feel doesn't try to replace it or recreate it. Just honor it. And therein lies it's brilliance. We will not attempt to be British, but we will not try very hard to be Americans either. Who better to bring Top Gear to an American audience without sullying it with American-ness...two aging Anglophiles who have had to form a support group to deal with their obsession with aging Englishmen.
It could work...