Why Britain is greater than the States?

[The39thStep]

I don't think it's the wheat. I watched a very interesting documentary on BBC4 (it's probably still on the i player) about the history of bread baking in Britain. Back in the 70s where demand for bread was high, there was the battle to speed up the baking time, or the time it took for a loaf to rise. And so, the Great British loaf underwent a change. Baking bread became the art of making water and slop stand up.

To do this, the companies introduced chemicals to speed up the process but it made the bread soggy and a bit uncooked inside. So to sell this shit to the masses, the major bakeries launched the "squeeze test" campaign. Those of us around at the time will remember the constant reminder to squeeze the loaf to check if it's fresh in every bleedin' advert for Sunblest or Mother's Pride.

I worked in a supermarket back then and you suddenly saw everyone squeezing the fucking bread just like on telly. Hovis was a decent small and fairly solid unsliced loaf. Pretty soon after, it became squashy half cooked sliced pap, along with the other junk. Today, even the healthy wholemeal stuff is baked with the same level of stodginess (notable exceptions being some eastern European bread and from companies like Kranks).

Bring back the National Loaf, I say!

The old Hovis was great.

 

[Serge Forward]

The old Hovis was great.

"As good today as it's always been..." Balls to that, the lying twats.

 

[Kaka Tim]

Blighty has a richer range of dialects, accents slang etc.

However the US giving us the roots for nearly all popular music (country, jazz, gospel, blues, door wop, bluegrass, soul, r @ b, hip hop, rap, rock n roll) of the past hundred years is major tick in the plus column for the yanks.
Actually, most of it came from the missisipi delta on its own.

 

[BassJunkie]

Because if I experience a set to with a chap in the street, there will be mutterings of, "really this is too much", and, perhaps a harrumph.

Rather than shooting each other dead.

 

[Boo Radley75]

Reading this thread is like reading something from the Prime Minister we desperately want, right now, Hugh Grant -

 

[LakieLady]

pubs

... and the proper beer they serve in them.

 

[LakieLady]

Rugby, it's like American football for people without a short attention span.

Likewise cricket.

America would never go for a game that can go on for 5 days and still not produce a result.

 

[LakieLady]

That's because our manly Imperial sized pints are larger than their weedy colonial ones...

I would have liked your post better had you refrained from use of the word "manly" in the context of imperial pints.

I can remember when quite a few pubs refused to serve pints to women, the sexist arseholes.

 

[Serge Forward]

I would have liked your post better had you refrained from use of the word "manly" in the context of imperial pints.

I can remember when quite a few pubs refused to serve pints to women, the sexist arseholes.

And women weren't allowed in the vault.

 

[savoloysam]

Were a relatively honest group in comparison. Sure we're miserable but what you see is what you get!

And when the shit goes down we all gather to help each other.

 

[pogofish]

It’s because we use wheat that is t really suitable for industrial bread baking. But it’s obviously better for the people who own the land to screw every last penny out of us than we get to have decent bread.

Most of our industrial bread output, incl the artisan stuff is made form imported grain and IIRC the US is our main source and its been that way for decades. At least since WW2 and possibly before.

Also, look-up the Chorleywood Bread Process - which is used for the vast majority of our industrial bakery, incl dough supply to smaller places. It's vile, then there is another layer of vileness involved in producing rustic/artisan bread doughs.

Sadly the US main process, although not without its issues is actually a hell of a lot more natural, being more based on temperature control/moisture injection and not hard fat/processed offal and human/animal waste like the CBP..!

 

[JimW]

Stroud had one of the country's oldest organic bakeries Protheroes whose loaves were really dense, fantastic. Started in the Whiteway Colony anarchist commune iirc.

 

[A380]

I would have liked your post better had you refrained from use of the word "manly" in the context of imperial pints.

I can remember when quite a few pubs refused to serve pints to women, the sexist arseholes.

Fair point. I should have put in in ‘ ‘ to indicate my irony…

But, on not serving women with pints, I’m not sure many people of any gender could do a whole pint of Babycham or sweet sherry…

 

[A380]

Genuinely old buildings.

Indeed. Woburn Abbey for example has wall paper still in use that is older than the USA.

 

[MrCurry]

We are the original imperialists, not the Yankee upstarts. And antiquates roadshow always says originals are worth more. So there’s that.

 

[danny la rouge]

Fair point. I should have put in in ‘ ‘ to indicate my irony…

But, on not serving women with pints, I’m not sure many people of any gender could do a whole pint of Babycham or sweet sherry…

Now. The legendary Sarry Heid in Glasgow’s East End used to have rotgut Sherry on tap (not an optic, a tap!) and people would order half pints. I haven’t been in since the 90s so I don’t know if it still goes on. But that was a boozer!

 

[The39thStep]

The true British ability to reel out how great Britain is whilst spending the other 364 days of the year slagging it off as being a place where nothing works , everything is expensive , has no summer and that everything would be better if the U.K. rejoined the EU.

 

[Poot]

I like the fact that wherever you are in the UK, it's quite quick to get to somewhere else. Imagine if the UK was the same size as the US and you could be on a plane for hours and hours and still be in the UK.

Fuck that.

 

[Kaka Tim]

you can buy booze at 18.

 

[A380]

I like the fact that wherever you are in the UK, it's quite quick to get to somewhere else. Imagine if the UK was the same size as the US and you could be on a plane for hours and hours and still be in the UK.

Fuck that.

I’ve been on planes like that…

 

[skyscraper101]

I like the fact that wherever you are in the UK, it's quite quick to get to somewhere else. Imagine if the UK was the same size as the US and you could be on a plane for hours and hours and still be in the UK.

Fuck that.

That's why I always felt the accusation that "only 20% of Americans have a passport"* a fairly ridiculous thing to level at them. If you lived in a continent with mountains, deserts, major cities, tropical beaches, and passport free travel between them all, would you be as inclined to get a passport?

I'm pretty sure half the people in the UK wouldn't have a passport if they weren't required to to go to Europe.

*It's ctually 47% anyway.

 

[Poot]

That's why I always felt the accusation that "only 20% of Americans have a passport"* a fairly ridiculous thing to level at them. If you lived in a continent with mountains, deserts, major cities, tropical beaches, and passport free travel between them all, would you be as inclined to get a passport?

I'm pretty sure half the people in the UK wouldn't have a passport if they weren't required to to go to Europe.

*It's ctually 47% anyway.

Exactly. And most of them don't live somewhere where it drizzles relentlessly and summer sometimes just fails to launch. So they probably don't get the same itchy feet anyway.

 

[A380]

Better in enforcing their empire than Britain.
Come on Britain! Must try harder

 

[Yossarian]

*It's ctually 47% anyway.

Yep, looks like there was a big rise after 2009, when passports were required for Americans to travel to Mexico, Canada, and a lot of Caribbean countries, before that they just needed a driver's license and birth certificate

 

[brogdale]

 

[Coffeecup]

That's why I always felt the accusation that "only 20% of Americans have a passport"* a fairly ridiculous thing to level at them. If you lived in a continent with mountains, deserts, major cities, tropical beaches, and passport free travel between them all, would you be as inclined to get a passport?

I'm pretty sure half the people in the UK wouldn't have a passport if they weren't required to to go to Europe.

*It's ctually 47% anyway.

When golfers have to get a passport to play in the Ryder Cup when it’s played over here, it does make you wonder how adventurous Americans are. British people don’t just get passports for Europe. That’s very 60/70/80s. Many have immigrated far and wide and visit family.

 

[skyscraper101]

When golfers have to get a passport to play in the Ryder Cup when it’s played over here, it does make you wonder how adventurous Americans are. British people don’t just get passports for Europe. That’s very 60/70/80s. Many have immigrated far and wide and visit family.

Sure but I bet a sizeable amount of Brits who do travel only go to Europe. And I bet if European travel didn't require a passport, that would bring the 87% of them who have passports a lot closer to the US figure. Take Germany as an example, similar type of population, climate, love to go to Spain, Greece etc just like the Brits. Only 41% have a passport, less than the US figure. Because - presumably - Schengen.

 

[Yossarian]

When golfers have to get a passport to play in the Ryder Cup when it’s played over here, it does make you wonder how adventurous Americans are. British people don’t just get passports for Europe. That’s very 60/70/80s. Many have immigrated far and wide and visit family.

There must be many millions of Americans who'd like to venture as far as Europe or wherever but can't afford an intercontinental holiday - and quite a few who can't even afford a holiday in Earwax, Alabama

 

[Coffeecup]

Sure but I bet a sizeable amount of Brits who do travel only go to Europe. And I bet if European travel didn't require a passport, that would bring the 87% of them who have passports a lot closer to the US figure.

British people have travelled the world for a long time. It’s not new to them. Sun holidays in the Mediterranean has been popular for some time as more and more people can afford it.

 

[Coffeecup]

There must be many millions of Americans who'd like to venture as far as Europe or wherever but can't afford an intercontinental holiday - and quite a few who can't even afford a holiday in Earwax, Alabama

It’s not a debate on who can afford it.