As we mentioned in our last newsletter, Bob-L Head has been dealing with a royal controversy when an old photo was somehow leaked and printed by a British tabloid. With the engagement of Prince William to Kate Middleton in the news,the British tabloids printed a photo of Bob-L with a much younger Prince William and Prince Harry pointing out the remarkable likeness between the three! However, Bob-L scored big points with the British public as he stayed above the fray, refused to comment on his relationship with Princess Di and, in true British fashion, maintained a stiff upper lip- literally -throughout the entire ordeal.

In November, my wife, Ellen, and I took a trip to London to discuss a possible lawsuit on behalf of Bob-L Head against the British tabloids with our London lawyer, Steve Horvath. Steve, a law school friend, is managing partner at the international law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf. Although he told me that it would be a case of first impression in England by filing a lawsuit on behalf of a bobblehead, he stated that he was 100% sure that his firm was not interested in the case. Damn big firms and their politics! Actually, Steve did share one of the most ingenious uses to date of his personal Bob-L Head in motivating under-producing Associates. Steve actually calls these lawyers into his office and explains to them that if they do not produce that they will soon be looking for other employment. He then pulls out Bob-L Head (I swear this is true) and says "Would you like to be out on your own, beating the streets for business and sending out your own bobblehead to try to get a referral?" Apparently, I am the only lawyer in the world who thinks that this is a really cool, and not a frightening, alternative. Go figure.

It was Irishman George Bernard Shaw who stated " England and America are two countries separated by a common language." So while in London, we rode the tube and the lift, not the subway and the elevator; saw houses for let, not rent; and saw illegally parked cars clamped, not booted. Since my last visit to London, when I walked out of the train station, looked left and started to cross the street, narrowly missing being run over by a car driving on the left side of the road, there are now painted reminders on the streets telling pedestrains to "Look left" or "Look right." Since this is clearly not for the benefit of the locals, I thought they should write "Look left, Yankee!" on the street instead. Finally, I had to share this actual menu from a London restaurant pictured above. First, it states, "A discretionary service charge of 12.5% will be added to your bill." Discretionary? If it's truly discretionary, then why will it be added?   Second, notice the next to last line- "Game may contain shot." Yes that means buckshot! Talk about fresh meat. Many restaurants buy directly from the local merchants. I opted for the "responsibly caught" fish. I figured I could easily check that sucker for a hook rather than biting down on some buckshot.

Some bizarre similarities between countries as well

While in England, there were reports of someone with national political ties being voted to continue on the English version of "Dancing with the Stars" even though she wasn't very good (the not so talented Bristol Palin was a finalist in America), a controversy in judging on the English version of "American Idol," and the most famous athlete in the country cheating on  his wife with a hooker. Yes, English soccer superstar Wayne Rooney was found to be cheating on his wife with, get this, a 1200 pound hooker! Sure, I know some dudes are into fat chicks, but 1200 pounds. Was Wayne her first customer ever? Even the before contestants on "The Biggest Loser" would look at her and say, "You need to drop 1000 pounds, girlfriend!" Huh? What's that you say, mate? Ohhh, she cost 1200 pounds per night- my bad. Still that's under $2,000 US. That's chump change. Tiger's divorce cost him about $750 million. Both Tiger and Wayne retained their lucrative endorsement deals with Nike, whose slogan ironically is "Just do it."