Crazy chip update

So far, I've tried three of the new potato chip flavors on trial with Walkers, and they're all "meh."

One was more "bleech," actually. On the Fish & Chips flavor, my husband said: "Eeeww, I don't go for that. Get me some turpentine to wash that taste out!" He later said: "They taste like they were fried in Long John Silver's old oil." Not a glowing recommendation at all.

I actually thought it was OK after eating one chip. Taking a bite reminded me of Violet in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. She was the one who ate the gum that gradually tasted like all the parts of a meal (before she got to the dessert part and turned into a human blueberry). The chip didn't make me feel like a piece of fruit, but there was an odd sensation of tasting first the chips (fries) and then after a slight delay, the fish. After my husband tried one and nearly gagged, though, it put me right off these chips, lol.

We also tried the Builder's Breakfast flavor, and it was good. You really could taste eggs and bacon. But this wasn't significantly different than the current Smoky Bacon flavor, so I won't be voting for this chip, either.

Lastly, we tried the Onion Bhaji flavor. It really did taste like onion bhaji. Which I'm not super fond of. So this one was OK, but didn't earn my vote. Stay tuned, you crazy crisp fans!

On the streets of Reading

Today out shopping in Reading's city centre, I noticed a couple of interesting things. Firstly, while someone walking along singing to himself may not merit much attention, a man walking along rapping to himself appears to have The Crazies. It sounds like he's having an argument with the voices in his head.

Secondly, they are much freer with clothing styles in England. It's nice that people can walk along in the middle of the day looking like they're heading to a costume party (fancy dress party to the Brits), when you suspect that's just their "normal" clothes. No one gives them a second glance. While it's really great to have this freedom, the outcome is a few people go around in really costume-like outfits. Sometimes they probably are on the way to a party, as the Brits love costume parties. But I still suspect a few outfits are just normal wear for others.

Today I saw a woman in a frilly blue dress (like something from a '60s high school prom), a tiara, and bright blue lipstick to match her frock. She was walking past the mall. I looked to see if she was carrying fliers or in some other way was dressed up as part of a business promotion, but no, she was just going about her business. My husband thinks she must have been on her way to a hen party (batchelorette party) even though it was the middle of the day, but I'm not convinced. If she were on the way to a hen party, she surely would've had a bunch of blinking, bobbing penises attached to some bunny-ears contraption on her head (normal hen party gear).

I think she just had this cool dress, so why not wear it? And if you're wearing a frilly, princessy dress, of course you need a tiara. And naturally you match your lipstick to your dress. You think? And does dressing like that limit your job options? Could you be a bank clerk or doctor or restaurant manager dressed like a Disney princess? Just a point to ponder.

Care for some Cajun Squirrel potato chips?

One thing about the UK that's cause for a giggle to an American girl is the wacky potato chip flavors. The norm here is things like steak and onion chips (or crisps, as they're called), roast chicken flavor, and prawn cocktail. And they all taste a lot better than you'd think.

Now Walkers wants to find a fresh, new flavor that's freakier than ever (and perhaps more fabulous?) with it's "Do us a flavour, Pick us a winner contest." People were invited to recommend a new flavor, and six were selected to be whipped up for consumers to sample. Sadly, my suggestion of chili cheese fries didn't make the cut. But junk-food aficionados can sample the new tastes and vote for a winner, with the most "out-there" option being Cajun Squirrel flavor. Seriously. I just bought two little bags of each new flavor yesterday for myself and husband to try, and I'll report back what we think.

Here are the options:

Builder's Breakfast (egg, bacon, sausage and beans)
Crispy Duck & Hoisin
Onion Bhaji
Chilli & Chocolate
Fish & Chips
Cajun Squirrel

Hungry yet? If you've tried these or would like to, let me know what you think!

If you crave more information about this unusual contest, check out this story in the Telegraph.

Newspaper freebies are cool, too

Another cool thing about England is the freebies newspapers often offer to get you to part with some coin. Granted, all these alluring freebies wouldn't be necessary if more papers here didn't seem to think a National Enquirer-type reporting style was the way to go, but the freebies are still nice.

For instance, the Daily Mail may not be that great of a read, but it can get some great DVDs on offer as freebies. My particular favorite is when they offer costume dramas for the price of a newspaper (as in when they offered Pride and Prejudice, the wonderful Colin Firth version, as a two-parter). This week I nabbed Jane Eyre, and today's offering is Lady Chatterley.

The shame is that the better papers, the ones I'd much rather actually read, don't give out as many freebies. They probably focus more money onto design and better writers -- though that doesn't stop papers like even The Times from having a slew of typos and sometimes doing rather misleading reporting that's far beneath it.

It will be interesting to see how UK papers can survive changing reading habits that are putting the hurt on U.S. papers. Will freebies make the difference? Would you be more likely to buy a paper in the States if it cost 50 cents or so more but you got a free Bowie CD? Time will tell what papers have to resort to, to stay alive.

British TV is kinda cool

No, not all of the original programming is cool in the UK. Much of it sucks. Man oh man do they love bad game shows and asinine reality shows (they have precious little like the reality TV I watched in the States, like Project Runway - the UK spinoff sucks - and things like Breaking Bonaduce on VH1). People on Big Brother become celebrities and have even gotten their own perfume named after them (as in the now fallen Jade Goody). AND you're forced to pay a monthly "license fee" to finance said crap programming. (Though some of the programs are good -- a few of the comedies, and many of the costume dramas are fab).

However, what's really cool about British TV is that they run movies, as well as shows that originally appeared on HBO and Showtime, UNCUT. That's right, no key scenes cut due to content, no funny lines watered down into some stupid, nonsensical crap to cut out a dirty word. It's awesome.

I once watched part of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" on cable in the U.S. It had been one of my favorite films back when I was too young to really be watching it. And cable TV ruined it. Due to editing, it was unclear what Phoebe Cates was doing when she was demonstrating oral sex on a carrot in the cafeteria, and a very funny line when stoner Sean Penn called Mr. Hand "You Dick" with just the perfect inflection became a not very funny voice-overed "You jerk." I gave up.

But in the UK, you would hear all those lines and more. You would see the scene where Phoebe Cates took off her bikini top and launched a million male fantasies. No cuts, no editing, no basically ruining the movie because certain scenes don't make sense anymore after the cuts. There's simply no point watching a modern movie on U.S. TV, even on cable - only the premium pay channels get it right. What's more, while you can't subscribe to HBO or Showtime here, you do get to see the best of their original shows on various Sky Satellite channels. Which has been nice for me, as I subscribed to just HBO in the States. Here I've enjoyed Californication and Weeds, both Showtime series I would've never seen (at least not unless I heard enough good word of mouth to rent them on dvd). Good stuff.

Showing your undies - Brit style

This goes under the category of "things that gross me out about England." You know that hip-hop style of wearing ultra-baggy jeans with the underwear showing? Usually involving showing either just the waistband of some boxer shorts or, for full tackiness, the whole boxers with the jeans nearly falling off some dude's skinny butt?

Well, I've seen an English version of this look around Reading, and it's ultra-gross. A few super-skinny Brit youths will wear tight-legged, skinny stretch jeans with the waist pushed waaaayyy down below the butt cheeks so you can see all of their their tighty-whiteys (which are plain white jockey underwear, the kind that look like they were bought in the aisle next to frozen foods at some discount store).

I wish I had a picture of this look. It's ghastly and yet mesmerizing because I just can't believe someone would wear that. Icky.

Bored in Reading?

Looking for something to do in Reading? Local blog Reading Roars offers a few good suggestions here. I have to say, I've done hardly any of them, but intend to change that!