I spent this weekend feeling depressed about my prospects for this summer and my perceived dearth of prospects for beyond the summer. But I also got to watch the first episode of the UK series of Pimp My Ride, and I had to mention it here (with the risk of inviting in another torrent of misspelled sob stories).

There exist concepts which cannot be translated to a different context comfortably, and Pimp my Ride is certainly one of them. In the place of Xzibit, we get Tim Westwood, the quintessential wigger. The venerable Chevrolets and Pontiacs of the American version are replaced by a Morris Minor, which gets the southern California treatment regardless. Particularly painful moments include every scene where Westwood opens his mouth, the Minor’s owner having to refer to it as a “ride” in her prim British accent, and scenes with some of the garage staff who look like right dodgy geezers. You can watch a shortened version of the introductory episode by clicking on “Episode 1″ on the Pimp My Ride website.