The mortgage mess explained

[xela]

I found this at http:/paul.kedrosky.com/ The humor is characteristically English: ironic and understated. Which among other things means I'm not entirely sure that the guy being interviewed isn't exactly what he identifies himself as: an investment baner. If any of my friends across the pond know who these guys are, please let me know.

(Note that this is politically incorrect enough to have bugged me, in that their example subprime borrower is "an unemployed black man in a string vest."* But it's too funny not to pass along.)

Watch on YouTube

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* In English English, a vest is an undershirt; I reckon string vest is a white cotton undershirt, from being made of the same material as string. But I'm not sure.

Comments

[coraline]

survey says: strange mesh undershirts. more, even more.

and an article about them

[yakshaver.livejournal.com]

Ooh, ick. 80s flashbacks. Gag me with a spoon. I had completely forgotten the existence of those. To say nothing of the fact that I once owned one. In some bright color — though which bright color seems (probably fortunately) to be a memory I really have totally suppressed.

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/559675/index.html

I thought I recognized the names from the “The Establishment” album I grew up with, right next to the “Beyond The Fringe” album

[yakshaver.livejournal.com]

Thanks. And a belated happy birthday!

[motodraconis.livejournal.com]

The string vest is an iconic garment of the working classes of the UK, epitomised by the likes of Rab C Nesbitt (Warning, this u-tube clip is conducted in Rab's impenetrable Scottish Glaswegian accent, Nesbitt used to be fairly popular in the UK a few years back - though I was never very keen myself. There was some debate that it would be pointless to broadcast his comedy show outside of Scotland, on account of the fact that English folk wouldn't understand his thick accent, but as it turned out, that was never a problem. However - I'd be intrigued if anyone not from the UK can understand him!)


As for your clip, those two are Bird and Fortune, from the satirical comedy show Bremner, Bird and Fortune which runs whenever politics get a bit spicy in the UK (like near ane lection - or pretty much all the time.) The show is almost exclusively topical political satire, and incidentally a direct contrast to Rab (who lampoons the UK working class) in lampooning of the UK middle classes.

Enjoy! Though er... both are rarified comedic fields of Brit comedy, not my sort of thing. (I prefer cult stuff like Spaced, IT Crowd, Black Books and QI.)

[yakshaver.livejournal.com]

I could catch maybe one word in four, on average, in that skit; not enough to make much sense of it. But I nonetheless watched the whole thing with rapt attention ... sort of like watching a linguistic train wreck.

I keep hearing references to "QI"; I should see if I can find some episodes online.