Who are you?

One of the blogs I've started reading, thanks to NaBloPoMo, is called Are we there yet? Today, she posted a link to one of those "What accent do you have" quizzes. I was intrigued, because her result said "Neutral," which is what I thought I had. I know, everyone thinks they have no accent, but I mean I thought I had trained myself out of any regional accent, into a sort of broadcast-standard English. So, expecting the "neutral" response, I took the quiz. The result was this:

What American accent do you have? (Best version so far) Northern You have a Northern accent. That could either be the Chicago/Detroit/Cleveland/Buffalo accent (easily recognizable) or the Western New England accent that news networks go for.

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

OK, well, I grew up in upstate New York, so it pegs me pretty correctly, which I found disappointing. I know that I don't have the "Chicago/Detroit/Cleveland/Buffalo accent," because my sister really does, and I think most people would agree that I don't sound like her. But then it goes on to say "or the ... accent that news networks go for." So I guess I have that. But I guess I'll have to work harder on getting the accent out.

In other news, here in England today is "Children in Need Day." Much like in the States, where the Labor Day weekend is associated with the Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon, the BBC sponsors a week of charity auctions and fundrasing events, culminating in "Children in Need Day." The mascot, Pudsey Bear, is recognized all over the country. and people dress as Pudsey and collect on the street. They hold bake sales. They pay their bosses £1 or so to dress in "fancy dress" (or what we Americans call "costumes") or to wear jeans to work. As I write this, they've raised nearly £2.25 million, and they still haven't gotten to the main event. That event is an evening of television programs, variety shows, skits, and the like, much like a telethon. But what makes tonight's version special, as far as I'm concerned, is the special mini-episode of Doctor Who, called "Time Crash." In it, the Doctor will encounter... the Doctor. A special guest appearance by Peter Davison, the fifth Doctor.

Now, I admit I wasn't a Doctor Who fan until this most recent sort of "next generationy" version, but I always wanted to be. I had friends who were, but it was shown on PBS, and since the episodes were all of odd lengths (74 minutes, and like that) with no commercials, I invariably tuned in, by chance, about 2/3 of the way through. It's tough to get into a show when you never get to see it. Still, I'm a big enough geek that I knew about the show, and had enough details to look forward to the new version with Christopher Eccleston when that started. Anyway, I share that only to say that I have never seen a Peter Davison episode of Doctor Who. It's just the inherent geekiness of the event that has me stoked.

Wait... come back. I'm not always this geeky.