PBH / off topic: do your thing (travelguide, pictures) / post

US GALS DIP INTO HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE

http://www.nypost.com/seven/05302008/entertainment/theater/im_ok__your...

By LOUISE WITT

May 30, 2008 --

EVERY Hugh Grant-loving, "Masterpiece Theater"-watching, Jane Austen-rereading woman knows there's something about British men. And now, thanks to a weak dollar that's driving them here in, well, droves, American women are taking full advantage.

Liz Kramer, a 31-year-old paralegal, is fed up with homegrown men, saying they not only take women for granted, but they're also delusional.

"They make a couple of bucks and they think they look like Brad Pitt when they look more like Dr. Phil," says Kramer. "And they think they can go out with a brain surgeon supermodel."

This is one reason Kramer signed up two months ago with Premier Match, a New York-based dating service that formed an alliance a year ago with London's Berkeley International. Kramer paid about $6,000 for a year's membership and asked to be introduced to British men.

She appreciates their accents, dapper attire, impeccable manners - and, yes, even their good looks, dental issues notwithstanding.

"I don't know what they're putting in their water over there," she says, "but they're getting better looking. There's Jude Law and Jason Statham from 'Transformers.' And they have that new James Bond."

She's now seeing an Englishman who travels between London and New York. "The long distance is hard, but we talk on the phone a lot."

She's not alone. Christie Nightingale, Premier Match's owner, says her business has increased 25 percent in the last year. For basically half the price, Berkeley's London clients can sign up with her service.

"It's a fire sale," says Nightingale. "They're taking advantage of the weak dollar. It's kind of a British invasion, with more clients coming over here."

With the weak dollar making New York City a relative bargain, the latest figures show Brit visitors to the city jumped about 25 percent, from 1.4 million in 2006 to 1.7 million in 2007, according to NYC & Co., the city's marketing and tourism group. They're here to do business, buy properties, shop - and, it turns out, date.

Andrew James, who is in real estate, divides his time between London and New York. The 39-year-old bought a Manhattan apartment two months ago, so when he joined Berkeley he also signed up for Premier's services. Since then, he's dated five New York women.

The attraction isn't just financial. "There are a lot of very pretty girls in New York, I'll say that, more so than in London." he says. "And they're a lot sexier."

James finds American women are drawn to him, as well. "Maybe they're taken in by my roguish good looks and my charms, but it may be my accent." Yet, he admits he goes out of his way to pay attention to the women and appreciates the effort they spend to dress for their dates.

"I can tell the difference between Manolos and Choos," he says.

Julie Bradley, a 35-year-old investment banker, says British chaps - and other European men - tend to treat their dates with more respect than Americans. They're on time, they open doors, they pull out chairs, and they're more attentive.

Bradley, who joined Premier a year ago, has met several British and European men. "British men have a more romantic idea of a date than American men," she says.

Matt Titus, author of "Why Hasn't He Called?" - a how-to book about finding the right man - says US women prefer British men because the women are starved for romance. Titus calls American men cavemen in suits.

"If an American man had his way, he'd put on a suit, go out in the street, drag a woman back to his cave and have sex," he says.

Their overseas counterparts, however, are accustomed to courting women - and then having sex with them. "The bar has been lowered so much by American men that British men look like superstars to American women," he says.

"They're kings here."

By morphus on May 30, 2008, 10:17 in Off Topic.

morphus says on May 30, 2008, 10:17:

HA HA...what a bunch of crap!

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gringoloid says on May 30, 2008, 10:40:

doesn't surprise me one bit...........when i lived in manhattan i knew all kinds of women that dated losers, drug addicts, gambling addictions, charlatans, fools, abusers, homosexuals, congressmen, etc....

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morphus says on May 30, 2008, 10:53:

and bi-sexual heroin addicts...LOL

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britabroad says on May 30, 2008, 10:56:

Jealousy get's you nowhere! But don't worry too much fellas, once a few Brits start contracting herpes they'll soon find pastures new.
As for losers, weirdos, etc etc...well, I just have to go into the centre of Cali to see those types, and most have American accents.

Leave the big stick at home...carry a cannon!

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morphus says on May 30, 2008, 11:03:

Ummm..calm down! We were talking about New Yorkers.

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britabroad says on May 30, 2008, 11:05:

Oops! Sorry guys, thought you were whinging cos we were stealing your women.
There's lots of weird Brits in Cali too.... of which I may well be one.

Leave the big stick at home...carry a cannon!

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morphus says on May 30, 2008, 11:11:

Nothing new! Americans have always been suckers for a British accent.

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goin_south says on May 30, 2008, 11:50:

Really?
I've always been a sucker for a spanish accent.

Ciao! Gustav. Bienvenitos, Ike.

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CatGirl says on May 30, 2008, 13:48:

GS - that could be a whole new post! jejee

Love and Time: the only two things that cannot be bought, but only spent

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CatGirl says on May 30, 2008, 13:57:

BTW - although this has nothing to do with Colombia, i find this to be TRUE. Genrally, British men when in Love seem to not be as worried about what their pals think - they are very romantic (some times over the top and ruins it for all the others, jejeej) and punctual etc...
But, again - there are Limeys ja! and some other types - so cannot consider this all inclusive.

The accent..well - I think Scottish is more attractive sounding than British, but I have been around the accents alot and it does not affect me the way it affects other women. This article is very general, as there are MANY different types of accents in UK. Some I could not even understand when they talked.

Love and Time: the only two things that cannot be bought, but only spent

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gringoloid says on May 30, 2008, 15:56:

yea, we're talking about ny women here...................i would actually feel sorry for the British man that got hooked up with a manhattan woman. if he is romantic, he would do much better around the world, including colombia.

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slguy says on May 30, 2008, 16:58:

the brits can have 95% of american women, in my book. I wish them the best of luck. ;)

Before you throw me out, make sure I pay my bar tab

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CatGirl says on May 30, 2008, 21:28:

Slygy 1 UK - 0

Love and Time: the only two things that cannot be bought, but only spent

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Robert Jorge says on May 30, 2008, 22:28:

Spanish accents can be annoying at times too. Rosie Perez comes to mind: "Beeeleeee, I want tuuuu scwew!" -White Man Can't Jump

--"I believe in making the world safe for our children. But not for our children's children, because I don't think that children should be having sex." - Jack Handy

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Simon says on May 30, 2008, 23:43:

"Spanish accents can be annoying at times too. Rosie Perez comes to mind: "Beeeleeee, I want tuuuu scwew!" -White Man Can't Jump"

That's not a "Spanish accent", that's a Brooklyn accent. Rosie Perez barely speaks Spanish.

From Wikipedia:

"She is recognized for her nasal voice, large breasts, and thick Brooklyn accent."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosie_Perez

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

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Robert Jorge says on May 31, 2008, 09:27:

Ok, bad example then Simon, poor attempt at humor.

--"I believe in making the world safe for our children. But not for our children's children, because I don't think that children should be having sex." - Jack Handy

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tomtom33 says on May 31, 2008, 17:19:

"They make a couple of bucks and they think they look like Brad Pitt when they look more like Dr. Phil," says Kramer. "And they think they can go out with a brain surgeon supermodel."

The last thing I'd ever want is a Gringa brain surgeon supermodel. The next to the last thing is a Gringa.

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CatGirl says on May 31, 2008, 18:59:

jaja...boy - got some venting going on here! tomtom 1 Gringas 0

RJ, I thought the same thing, when I read the name ..thought..uhh.."Is she even Spanish? - but am bad with actors names. So thanks Simon for clarifying

Personally, like a Spanish accent coming from a man, but it would not be the thing that would swoon me..jeje. Gotta have more to offer than a Spanish accent, ja!

Love and Time: the only two things that cannot be bought, but only spent

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slguy says on May 31, 2008, 20:47:

Unless I'm badly mistaken, Rosie is nuevorican.

Before you throw me out, make sure I pay my bar tab

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Cerealkiller says on Jun 3, 2008, 15:35:

Just thought of sharing the rebuttal:

English men are useless – and here's the TV series to prove it
By Andy McSmith
Tuesday, 3 June 2008

REX
English men were too polite, too repressed and too misogynist to go through what a young North American would recognise as a decent courtship ritual

Independent.co.uk Web
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If you are English, male, single and thinking of nipping across to Canada to improve your sex life – forget it. English men are not world renowned as great lovers anyway, and our reputation in North America is about to take a nosedive, courtesy of a Canadian journalist named Leah McLaren who turned up in London six years ago, as correspondent for the Toronto Globe and Mail, aged 26 and single, and thinking that she was in for some exciting sex in the city.

Her English dates turned out to be a crashing disappointment – too polite, too repressed and too misogynist to go through what a young North American would recognise as a decent courtship ritual, she claimed. She suspected that if she had ever ended up in the bedroom with any of them, she would have been invited to engage in something involving whips, chain and dildos – but that is speculation, because she never got that far.

Instead she wrote a coruscating piece entitled "The Tragic Ineptitude Of The English Male", which received vast publicity on both sides of the Atlantic. And as if she has not insulted English virility enough already, she has written a television drama, which will be shown on Canadian television as the pilot for a series, so that the whole country can laugh at English impotence.

"It is based on my experience," McLaren said yesterday. "It's the story of a Canadian woman who gets a job on a right-wing tabloid in London and ends up dating a lot of crap British men, and the comic turmoil that ensues. It's kind of like Sex in the City meets Bridget Jones."

A Canadian actress, Liane Ballaban, has been cast as the main character, and auditions are taking place this week for English supporting actors. McLaren will be in London most of July and August for the exterior locations for the film – but if you think, guys, that here is your chance to prove her wrong about English virility, forget it. She has a beau over here already. He is an ex-pat Canadian.

Warming to the theme of English inadequacy, she went on: "It's something about English culture generally – the formality and the utter perversity. It's the guy with perfect, perfect manners who then wants to go home and be whipped and chained ... The politeness is in direct proportion to the nastiness when they are drunk."

Her initial quest for excitement in London drew her to the conclusion that the English male is either a repressed homosexual, a drunkard whose alcohol intake renders him incapable, a boarding school product deprived of his mother's love too early in life, or simply a woman-hater. She wrote this for The Spectator – an interesting outlet, because the magazine's editor then was Boris Johnson. "He's very sexy, but I didn't have an affair with him," she said. "He's a very unusual character. He's not your usual upper-class Englishman, is he?"

The article provoked some ferocious counter-attacks, most notably in the Daily Mail, which asked "could her views have anything to do with her on lesbian dabblings?" – a question clearly anticipating the answer "yes". "Ah yes, the lesbian dabblings!" McLaren replied yesterday. "That was dug up from a column I wrote saying heterosexuality was overrated. Alas, no lesbian dabblings to report in real life. But please feel free to keep the false rumour circulating if you are so inclined. In my world, lesbian dabblings only enhance a woman's reputation."

Producing McLaren's comedy will involve creating a mock-up of the news room of a British right-wing tabloid newspaper. So, did she by any chance visit the Kensington offices of the Daily Mail? "I have been through the Daily Mail office because I have a very good friend who works there, Robert Hardman," she said. "But I didn't date him."

She did, however, have a date with the brother of Lord Palmer, of the biscuit family, who is now the travel editor of the Daily Mail. Mark Palmer wrote: "What she has written is such utter nonsense that I can only assume that her now widely syndicated piece of journalism ... is part of an elaborate hoax to see how much publicity you can get from peddling a cliché about Englishmen that I thought had died."

Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives -John Stuart Mill

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