Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Remember, Remember the 5th of November

Okay. I know I missed the boat, but after I posted our update (and list of excuses) I realized that it was Guy Fawkes Day (the guy who tried to blow up parliament for because of religious oppression in England). and I just want to say the movie V for Vendetta rocks.

In Australia, remember, remember, the 6thof November.
The other thing I want to say is that they don't celebrate Guy Fawkes Day here, because its so close to the MELBOURNE CUP. Its a horse race that is sort of like the Kentucky Derby. Except for this year it was on a Tuesday. And everybody watches it. I mean everybody! In Victoria (where Melbourne is) its an official holiday--banks close.

We shut down our emergency hospital (okay some people had to stay and save the animals but like 1/4 of the usual staff) so that the hospital staff could watch the race. Just like in My Fair Lady the tradition is formal attire, with big hats. We had a few people dress up, but mostly people made hats out of X-RAY film, those big cones that dogs wear, and gauze. We bet on our horses, cheered the race on the big screen TV in the equine hospital, and then toasted the winners of the betting--yet another obscure fun tradition.

1 comment:

Aqua Chiffon said...

"We had a few people dress up, but mostly people made hats out of X-RAY film, those big cones that dogs wear, and gauze."

I love this.