Congratulations to all the Brits who won big at the Emmys this past week including the Sherlock trio of Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch and Stephen Moffatt. I went to a few events last week including Heifer International’s A PLACE AT THE TABLE honoring Diane Lane and my good friend Ian Somerhalder at the stunning Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills. I was seated with the beautiful Pop star Nikki Lund and Fitness expert Sharon Yates, The British Weekly’s Sean Borg, Station Film’s Michael Di Girolamo who won the signed photograph of Diane Lane in the live auction, (see pic), as well as the UKares Foundation’s CEO Fiona Harden and John Scott from Heifer International. The star-studded event raised close to $100,000 for this fantastic charity that provides women in third world countries the gift of livestock and teaches them how to be sustainable and grow a business. Visit their website at www.heifer.org to see how you can get involved.
I was also fortunate enough to be invited to the pre-Emmy award BAFTA Los Angeles Emmy TV Tea party, celebrating all the nominees, co-hosted by Jaguar and BBC America. It was held at the SLS hotel garden in Beverly Hills. It was so nice to see so many Brits in LA members there, including our very own Sandro Monetti, Don Haber, Bryan Bowen and actor John Mawson drinking tea and all looking very dapper.
Brit actresses Tehmina Sunny, Nadia Jordan, Hayley J. Williams and Joanna Hawkins were spotted drinking champagne with Sharon Yates, and the lovely Shirley Greene, Julia Verdin, Christine Peake, Louise Hart and Louisa Spring all looked beautiful and summery. I enjoyed the great food and cocktails but best of all the gorgeous ride loaned by Jaguar – the new XJS supercharged SWB from the R-Series….a villain has to arrive in style, right?
Holidays over…or just coming up
Holidays! That’s a funny word isn’t it? Even after 15 years of being here, the language barrier still sometimes throws me for a loop. Sometimes I unconsciously find myself Americanizing (is that even a word?) things, for example “Can I get…” instead of “Please may I have…” Put it in the trash”, “turn on the faucet,” “open the trunk”, “use the correct flatware” instead of cutlery, I’ve even started adapting the accent in certain cases. In restaurants… Water has become “WAR-DERRR” and Route has becoming “ROW-T”.
This was never more obvious than during a recent trip back home. Family members ribbing me about how many times I used ‘like’ in a sentence. I think this all started when I adopted my dog a few years back. She wouldn’t respond to commands unless I said them with a twang. My best Barbara Woodhouse “Walkies” had no impact, but as soon as I said “Shall we go for a WARK” her ears would prick up and she headed straight for the door. So I’d put on her ‘leash’ (see what I did there?) and off we’d go for our hike (again!).
Anyway this got me thinking about the word Holidays. To us back home, it’s that glorious two weeks of summer we get off during the kids’ school hols. A fortnight in Majorca, a caravan in Skegness, Sticky Vicky in Benidorm. (okay, I’ll stop now, you’re probably eating breakfast.) While in the American vernacular, it simply means that period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. To me, that seems more like ‘work’ than a holiday. Christmas shopping, decorating, family obligations, office parties, (I know, I know, bah-humbug.) I need a holiday after all that. Or as the locals say ‘a vacation’.
So now that kids here are back to school and summer is coming to an end…though you’d never know it from the weather…make sure you make the most of it…..visit the beach, catch a late summer concert or outdoor screening, have a picnic at the beach, or take a hike in the local mountains in the early morning cool, discover all that California has to offer…..you are truly spoilt for choice.
Cheers!
Craig
