Touching Down in England (part 1)

I flew from Flint, Michigan to Atlanta and then connected with my flight to London. Suddenly I found myself surrounded by funny accents and British wit, ruddy English faces freshly burnt by Easter holidays spent at Disney World. The gentleman next to me seemed friendly enough, but promptly tried to hijack my armrest space as we settled into our seats. I readied my elbow to launch a counter assault but noticed his daughter peering in our direction, still clad in her Minnie Mouse ears. I let his digression in etiquette go without rebuke, reassuring myself that I simply wanted to spare this lad the disgrace of being embarrassed in front of his family, secure in the knowledge that I could easily win back my rightful space on the armrest with a minimum of effort.

I readied myself for landing in England by picking the most appropriate movie selection provide by Delta (which, by the way, was extensive.) As we took off from Atlanta and began to cruise high above the east coast of the United States, I turned my attention to RockNRolla, Guy Ritchie's most recent British crime drama, full of gritty scenes of London's criminal underworld, fast talking, cool mob types, Russian billionaire investors, Ludacris and Jeremy Piven playing Americans in over their heads and Idris Elba getting to try on his natural British criminal swagger in lieu of his previous role as the very American criminal Stringer Bell on The Wire. People got shot, the plot twisted and turned, cool music and accents rang through the film, and I knew I was ready. All that cinematic action got me in the perfect mindstate England to take the island by storm the following morning. However, I couldn't fall asleep and proceeded to watch Don Cheadle in Traitor, Jim Carrey in Yes Man, and Leonardo di Caprio and Russell Crowe in Body of Lies. I sincerely enjoyed all of the movies (even though the plane landed before I finished Body of Lies) and arrived at 7am at London Gatwick Airport impressed by the quality of Delta Airlines' in-flight entertainment offerings...but also severely jetlagged.

to be continued...