Skip to main content

The Royal Spud

Don't get me wrong. I like the UK. I've spent a lot of time there. I have a lot of friends there. It's a fun place (if you can afford it).  The people there are, for the most part, pretty darn cool! Sure, they have some idiots...but we all have idiots, so one can't fault them for it.

I live in the US. A couple hundred years ago, we fought for our independence from the UK. It's not that we don't like the people there...we just wanted to do things our own way...and I'd have to say we've done OK, in general. At least we don't have an official King (except maybe Elvis) or Queen (Latifah? Possibly Oprah....or maybe Martha Stewart, the Evil Queen). Royalty ain't what this country is about!

All of this said, I'm hoping someone can explain this to me: As our drummer and I were heading to rehearsal tonight, we turned onto the 40th Street Bridge and I looked over at the giant, annoying, ever changing, light up billboard and see CONGRATULATIONS WILL & KATE! and there were badly designed, light up Union Jacks all around it. WTF?

Don't get me wrong. I think it's wonderful that they have a healthy new baby boy. What I don't understand is why we, as Americans, should consider this something to celebrate? We have 313.9 million people here in the States. The UK has 62.7 million. Are we congratulating them because they're now one closer to catching up? Was it some amazing bit of modern science that these two inbreds managed to conceive a child that doesn't have flippers? Why is it that we American citizens are supposed to be excited over this? Is it because they're Royals? So what!

This isn't the first royal baby born recently. There have been a number of others...see for yourself:

January 20, 2013. Prince Carl Friedrich and Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, twin sons of Prince Georg Friedrich and Princess Sophie.
May 9, 2012. Princess Luisa Irene Constance Anna Maria of Bourbon-Parma, daughter of Carlos Xavier and Annemarie [van Weezel], Duke and Duchess of Parma, The Hague.
February 23, 2012. Princess Estelle of Sweden, daughter of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel, Solna (Stockholm). February 22, 2012. Princess Isabelle d'Orléans, daughter of Charles Philippe Duke and Diane Duchess of Anjou, Lisbon. January 24, 2012. Princess Athena Marguerite Françoise Marie of Denmark, daughter of Prince Joachim and Princess Marie, Copenhagen.
September 27, 2011. Prince Giorgi Bagration Bagrationi of Georgia, son of Prince Davit and Princess Ana. May 24, 2011. Prince Amedeo of Savoy, son of Prince Aimone, Duke of Apulia, and Princess Olga [of Greece], Paris. February 12, 2011. Archduke Luigi Amadeo Thadeus of Austria, son of Archduke Martin of Austria and Princess Katharina [zu Isenburg], Pavia. January 8, 2011. Prince Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander and Princess Josephine Sofie Ivalo Mathilda of Denmark, twin children of Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, Copenhagen.
May 28, 2010. Louis de Bourbon and Alphonse de Bourbon, twin sons of Louis Duke of Anjou and Margarita [Vargas Santaella] Duchess of Anjou, New York. May 20, 2010. Lady Cosima Rose Alexandra Windsor, daughter of the Earl and Countess of Ulster. January 5, 2010. Princess Alva of Bavaria, daughter of Prince Manuel and Princess Anna [zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg].

I don't recall any media coverage on these births and I especially don't recall seeing any local billboards! So why the hubbub?

Sure, William's mother was Princess Diana...and we all seemed to think she was special. Why? Because she was pretty. That's really about it. Sure, Kate is pretty too...but what? We don't have pretty women here in the US? Personally, I think we have more than our fair share of hotties here...and ya don't see all of them getting this sort of treatment!

So why all the fuss? I hope the parents raise the kid well. I hope the boy grows up strong and healthy. If the UK decides to retain it's monarchy, he's 3rd in line for the throne. Mind you, all that means is he'll have a cushy job for life and not really have to do much.

So, my fellow Americans, ask yourselves: WHY THE HELL ARE YOU ACTING ALL GOOFY BECAUSE THESE 2 BRITISH KIDS HAD A BABY? 

Comments

  1. SolonAugust 29, 2013 at 8:33 AM

    For someone who doesn't give a rat's whatever, you sure do spend a lot of time studying royalty and yammering about it~

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Memphis MikeSeptember 20, 2013 at 5:46 PM

      Actually, I don't spend any time studying it. A quick search on Google gave me all of the info I need.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Bluesy Melody and a Scratchy Photograph

Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't born in the mountains. Nor had he been raised in a cave. His appearance, though, often led people to think otherwise. A barber's chair was as likely a place for him to visit as the moon. I don't believe he had ever shaved. His hair, long and unkempt, looked even longer thanks to his seemingly endless beard, which was braided and knotted at the bottom. If unfurled, it probably would have dipped well below his waist.  His mannerisms and manner, while peculiar, were so only in that he was almost religiously polite. What at first glance might appear stand-offish was nothing more than his attempts at being inobtrusive. He was almost like some Appalachian monk, raised by a society trapped in the past, who occasionally ventured into town. He was extremely well-read and more tech savvy than most teenagers. Utmost, he maintained his privacy. No one knew just where he lived. He came and went at his own leisure, unnoticed by the world until he mad...
Post a Comment
Read more

An Old Photo

The photo was old and scratched up. It looked like it had been handled and mishandled for years, and it probably had. Passed from hand to hand, tucked into scrapbooks, displayed in frames, stuffed into drawers, and rescued again. It had been looked at thousands of times. It was still his favorite. It wasn't historically important. Just a photograph of friends sitting in someone's back garden, sharing a few laughs and a few cold beers. The image was every bit as grainy as the memories attached to it. The colors had faded with age, drifting toward reds and yellows. Time had left its fingerprints everywhere. He was the only one left in the photograph. When his time came, would anyone remember those old glory days? Those years when importance itself seemed unimportant. When photographs weren't taken to prove anything, advertise anything, or preserve a carefully crafted image. They were taken simply because someone thought a moment was worth keeping. There was no guarantee the p...
Post a Comment
Read more

The American

 In his native America, he'd always had a shady reputation. As a young man, he worked as muscle for hire, worked as a bouncer in gambling houses and brothels, and always had a side hustle moving drugs or weapons. He could always be counted on to find a buyer for stolen goods, too. He was smart enough to see the cracks forming in the government long before most. Within days of the First Attack, he'd made plans to leave the country. Some of his cohorts with Sicilian lineage helped him get to Europe. From there he was on his own. He managed to bring along a tidy sum in cash and jewels. This gave him the advantage of time to form new contacts. He was told time and time again that the capital of Bulgaria - Sofia - would be a good place to set himself up. There were gangs there who could make use of his skills, and provided he kept out of trouble and his name out of the local gossip, he would do fine.  And he did. He pretty much became, as he liked to call himself, a consultant. He ...
Post a Comment
Read more