"Helloooooo!...Can you spare a quid?"

The Guardian news organization reports that the Queen is short of cash. Who isn't? you might ask. Like many non-profits, the Queen has been forced to tap reserve funds to maintain the royal household, particularly focusing on upkeep of royal residences. The situation at Buckingham Palace is allegedly so acute that a piece of the facade once fell off and narrowly missed Princess Anne!

And what does it cost the average Brit to maintain the monarchy? About 69pence per person each year--or about $1.15. And when will the queen's cash reserves run out? At current rates, by the year 2012.

Things are tough all over.

Triller Live becomes Jackson tribute

Thriller Live, playing at London's Lyric Theatre, is dealing with the death of its inspirational figure--singer Michael Jackson. The show goes on, perhaps now even more popular than ever.

A Tube by any other name would smell as sweet?,

How would Shakespeare fare as a rider on the London Underground? The mind reels at the thought! Well, the subway system is meeting the Bard halfway, in a manner of speaking, as it adds quotes by famous writers and thinkers to its otherwise mundane train and station announcements.

To mind the gap, or not to mind the gap. That is the question.

The Fourth, with Franklin, in London

Americans in London on July 3rd may want to get a headstart on celebrating Independence Day by visiting the Benjamin Franklin House. That museum is holding a cake and champagne celebration on July 3rd at noon. The Franklin House is a unique place to visit--Franklin's home when he worked in London before the American Revolution.

MORE Tube strikes ?!?!

Talks are underway to try and avoid additional strikes on London's Underground (Tube). Workers are seeking a 5 percent pay raise and promise of no layoffs. Observation: in this economy, many workers are happy just to have a job!

British Airways in the news

An American deal?
Willie Walsh, head of British Airways, predicts approval of an alliance with American Airlines by year end.
Let's not strike
BA faces the same pressures as most of the world's airlines: passengers are scarce in the current economy and some form of downsizing is inevitable. That probably means layoffs, but in the British corporate world that often means strikes by employee unions. BA is in talks to work out some accommodation with its unions to avoid the prospect of industrial action (strikes).

While waiting for the Underground strike to end

Those striking drivers starting annual salary is 40,000 pounds (over $66,000). They get 43 days of paid vacation (plus holidays) per year. And they work a grueling 36 hour work week. So, while millions of people around the world are out of work due to no fault of their own, what do the Underground workers do? They go on strike. Sorry, but "Mind the Gap" just doesn't quite cover it.

Here's to you, Ben

When iconic Big Ben chimes on Sunday, it will begin its 150th year of timekeeping. The venerable mechanism has been marking time for a century and a half, with only a handful of breaks for repairs and weather-related events (the clock froze on cold New Years).