No dia 11 de Novembro, na escola E.B. 2,3 de Abação, ocorreu uma feira de produtos da Terra em que todas as turmas participaram trazendo alimentos como batatas, cebolas, limões, abóboras… Cada turma vendeu estes produtos. A feira teve uma grande adesão por parte da comunidade educativa.

Após o final da feira os alunos juntamente com os professores participaram nos jogos tradicionais. Os jogos foram bastantes divertidos. Entretanto, houve a distribuição das castanhas.

Os espantalhos construídos por diversas turmas, foram depois queimados em comemoração do Guy Fawkes.

À tarde tivemos o baile dos alunos, houve uma grande adesão por parte dos alunos e foi muito divertido.

Esperamos para o próximo ano, para mais uma feira dos produtos da Terra!

Jéssica Pereira e Paula Ferreira

In imagine o masca tip Guy Fawkes. Imagine preluata de aici.

A fortnight ago, to celebrate Guy Fawkes Night (& just for fun really!), we built a big bonfire in our back garden. When I say ‘we’ I guess I mostly mean Martin as he was the one who built the fire pit in our garden earlier this summer & he was the one who gathered & prepared all the wood! I was mostly in charge of buying the marshmallows

Martin’s Dad & sister & their partners travelled up from England to join us for the weekend. With 6 people & 3 greyhounds, it was a rather crowded house, so any excuse to get outside was welcome!

It was a cracking good fire & kept us all nice & warm for hours as we huddled round it toasting marshmallows on sticks. Even the dogs were tempted off the sofas to come join us round the fire (although no marshmallows for them!).

Inspired by our bonfire (& Guy Fawkes Night in general), I curated this treasury of fiery finds on Etsy. Mmmmnn… these chocolate marshmallows look deelish!

The treasury is no longer ‘live’ (as I was somewhat behind in updating my blog!) but please do visit the shops of these talented artists, many of who are members of street teams McEtsy & Etsy For Animals.

Remember, remember the fifth of Movember.

I’m not entirely sure that when Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up the houses of parliament he was aware that the month of November would go down in history, not only for that catastrophe of a treasonous plot, but also for it’s ability to encourage the most clean-shaven men to aspire to handle-bar perfection. But then he had a tremendous ‘tache anyway.

Movember has grown in popularity over the last few years, raising money  and awareness for men’s health, most specifically prostate cancer (check yourselves out boys). This year it really has gone global. Good for them, there have been loads of women-specific charity events (moon walks, race for life etc. ), it’s fab to see the boys getting in there too.

So the challenge is on. 17 days in… how are you all doing?

I personally am quite liking a ‘tache on a man at the moment. It seems refined, sophisticated, and a bit mad. Unless it is a Freddie Mercury. The more quirky the better. Points for style and density. Any kind of Captain Jack braiding may well be one step too far. The thing is, you have to make sure people know you are doing it for charity, otherwise you defeat the object of raising awareness… and you may be mistaken for an 80’s throwback wannabe!

Social networking sights are getting in on the act, chronicling the progress of the most dedicated Mo Bros…

Check out… (http//:) for daily ‘tache updates.

Or … (http//:) for famous ‘taches.

Girlies can get in on the act too, sign yourselves up as Mo Sistas!

So even if you are late on the Mo-band-wagon, go wild… throw a Mo Bro party, find some Mo Sistas, buy some Mo-chendise, or simply get growing your Mo, bro.

13 days is plenty of time.

***

Liz and I went to visit my sister on Bonfire night. The village she lives on still has a very well attended bonfire and fireworks display for Guy Fawkes night although the burning of effigies seems to have fallen out of fashion As soon as my nephew saw the bonfire he dragged us towards it shouting Fire! Fire! Fire! and then proceeded to tell anyone who would listen that the big orangey thing was a fire.

I didn’t take many pictures as I though it would be too dark to get anything but a few came out okay:

El pasado 5 de noviembre fue la Bonfire night. Esta fiesta se celebra todos los años en la misma fecha para conmemorar el intento fallido de volar el parlamento por parte de Guy Fawkes. Os sonará a guión de película si habéis visto “V de vendetta” ;-D ,  ya que se basa en esta historia. La intención de Guy Fawkes era acabar con las persecuciones hacia los católicos mediante la conspiración de la pólvora, que fue como se le llamó al intento de atentado, fue arrestado y condenado a muerte.

The bonfire

Fireworks

Desde entonces se celebra con una gran hoguera, en la que en algunos lugares queman un muñeco que representa a Fawkes, y el lanzamiento de fuegos artificiales. Aquí en Hatfield se celebra de la misma manera y se abre una pequeña feria y algunos puestos de comida. Se celebra en la Casa de Hatfield, un antiguo palacio real. La entrada cuesta 6 libras pero nosotros entramos gratis por llegar tarde, como buenos españoles. Los fuegos artificiales siempre molan pero estos vienen a Valencia en Fallas o a Alicante en Fogueres, que si Raquel, que no me olvido, y lo flipan en colores… Así como lo harían también los americanos, eh, Vicent? ;-D

Aquí no te dejan saltarlas

Fair

O mês de Novembro veio na trilha do “V de Vingança”: remember, remember, the 5th of November!

Tivemos dois bodes expiatórios de grande repercussão antes da metade do mês. A primeira foi a estudante Geisy Arruda, que foi expulsa da UniBan (irônico ter BAN no nome, só comentando) por estar em trajes imorais. O segundo foi Carlos Eugênio Simon, suspenso pela CBF até o final do Campeonato Brasileiro, por ter anulado um gol legítimo de Obina pelo Palmeiras, na última rodada do Brasileirão.

Quais são as semelhanças dos casos?

Os dois foram vítimas das circunstâncias. Não saberia explicar o caso de Geisy. Não sei se fazia calor. Se houve uma festa no dia anterior. Se a “macharada” estava exaltada por algum lançamento no cinema pornográfico (que não acompanho). Ou se foi a estreia de “Bastardos Inglórios” que os fez encarnar os justiceiros e ir à forra contra a suposta “profissional do sexo”.

Eu tenho aversão a linchamentos morais. A lembrança do “V de Vingança” não foi acidental. Guy Fawkes, o personagem histórico inglês que quis explodir o Parlamento, foi linchado moralmente, fisicamente, e executado como bode expiatório. Mas, pior do que isso, teve sua honra denegrida como poucos na história da humanidade. É como um Judas, numa extensão bem menor, claro. Acho que Tiradentes pode encarnar nossa versão tupiniquim. Também foi morto como representante da Inconfidência Mineira, e teve pedaços de seu corpo pendurado a postes como exemplo.

Guy Fawkes, o original.

E você pode muito bem se perguntar agora, depois de uns parágrafos, “mas o que é que Geisy expia?”

Geisy e seu Vestido // Crédito: Fábio Braga-2.nov.09/Folha Imagem

Geisy paga a conta da emancipação da mulher. As mulheres se tornaram sim mais independentes e querem seus direitos. E nós, homens, não conseguimos absorver isso. Sem medo generalizar, temo que a maioria dos garotões que denegriam Geisy devem ter aprendido isso em casa. Duvido muito que um ambiente em que há uma relação cordial e respeitosa entre o pai e a mãe possa encorajar tal atitude. E não posso nem dizer que é a “geração ovomaltine”, que tinha tudo na mão, uma vez que a Uniban é uma faculdade de baixo custo, com grande apelo popular.

Não posso concluir se essa geração sai de casa vendo a mãe como uma empregada, ou de alguma forma inferior ao pai. Não sou psicólogo nem sociólogo. Mas esse linchamento moral reflete um sentimento que está enraizado nessas pessoas por algum motivo. E a readmissão de Geisy não esconde esse sentimento. O dano já foi feito.

Volto a atenção agora pro Carlos Eugênio Simon. Ele é um árbitro Fifa, o maior grau de excelência que pode se conseguir como um juiz de futebol. Só que, até onde eu sei, ele é um ser humano. E tem algo que todos os seres humanos fazem, não importando o grau de excelência: cometer erros. Se os robôs de Isaac Asimov existissem, eles estariam perplexos.

Eu tinha medo do Simon apitando jogos do Cruzeiro.

O pensamento de um robô: “Futebol tem regras. Os humanos erram por não conseguir enxergar as infrações. Logo: é preciso minimizar os erros.  Cada jogo conta com várias câmeras. Mais seres humanos podem observar várias telas. Solução que não envolveria robôs: colocar vários humanos observando o jogo, ajudando o humano solitário do campo a efetivamente errar menos. Solução que envolve robôs: colocar um de nós pra observar o jogo através das câmeras. Mas ainda não existimos, então a primeira solução é melhor”.

Eu sou a favor do pensamento deste robô. Ficou claro pra mim, com a suspensão de Simon do Campeonato Brasileiro, que o futebol vale mais do que o ser humano. Precisamos de robôs. Urgente. Precisamos de tecnologia infalível, pois nós, humanos, somos por demais falíveis. A gente falha, mesmo. Parece que somos programados pra falhar.

Acusaram Simon de ladrão, “ali babá”, dentre diversos outros palavrões, simplesmente por ele ter cometido um erro (grosseiro pra alguns, nem tanto pra outros) numa reta final de Brasileirão. Os dirigentes do Palmeiras dizem que Simon tirou o campeonato deles. Balela. O Palmeiras tirou o campeonato de si próprio. O presidente do Palmeiras quer ir à justiça contra Simon. Creio que a acusação será “ser humano”.

Simon é um bode expiatório. O Campeonato Brasileiro foi recheado de erros. E afastaram todos esses juízes? Botafogo e Náutico foram os mais prejudicados, e não se vê esses times pedindo (e conseguindo) cabeças de juízes. Não sei se é por reconhecer que todos erram, que faz parte do jogo, ou se a apelação simplesmente não funciona.

Os dois são os novos bodes expiatórios (“escapegoats”) de Novembro. Esses casos deveriam ficar pra sempre na memória, pra lembrar como podemos ser arrogantes e nos considerarmos perfeitos e incapazes de errar. Todos erramos. Afinal, somos humanos.

“Remember, remember the Fifth of November”… così comincia una filastrocca tradizionale inglese che si ispira alla celebrazione annuale del 5 di Novembre, ovvero la cosiddetta “Guy Fawkes Night”.

Viene in questa occasione ricordata la sventata Congiura delle Polveri, o Gunpowder Plot, quando un gruppo di cattolici guidati da Robert Catesby (comprendente tra gli altri anche Guy Fawkes) progettò di far saltare il Palazzo di Westminster nel pomeriggio del 5 novembre 1605, all’interno del quale era presente re Giacomo I d’Inghilterra, che reprimeva i cittadini di religione cattolica.

Ogni cittadina o villaggio inglese festeggia la Guy Fawkes Night. Tradizionalmente, la celebrazione comincia con una processione di tutti gli abitanti del paese, con tanto di torce, fino al green dove è  allestita una pira alla cui sommità è posto un fantoccio a rappresentare Guy Fawkes, appunto. Ogni torcia è depositata alla base della catasta di legna e ramaglie e viene dunque acceso il falò (bonfire), a cui solitamente fa seguito uno spettacolo pirotecnico.

Nel corso del recente viaggio in Inghilterra del Direttivo TGS Eurogroup i nostri amici inglesi ci hanno introdotto a questa suggestiva tradizione inglese, portandoci al bonfire di Brockham, vicino a Dorking, uno dei più grandi e famosi dell’Inghilterra.

E’ possibile vedere una presentazione di foto della serata seguendo il seguente link:
Guy Fawkes Night in Brockham, 2009.

Per saperne di più sulla figura di Guy Fawkes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes

Per saperne di più sul bonfire di Brockham:
http://www.brockhambonfire.com

Igino

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot, I know of no reason Why Gunpowder Treason Should ever be forgot. Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t’was his intent To blow up King and Parli’ment. Three-score barrels of powder below To prove old England’s overthrow; By God’s providence he was catch’d With a dark lantern and burning match. Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

I was in the small town of Lewes last Thursday for their legendary bonfire night celebrations. Mad processions, deafening fire crackers, flames everywhere. Brilliant. Definitely the most all out spectacular bonfire night I’ve ever seen. It helps if you have somewhere to stay over as well, which was kindly provided for us by Leweswerks, sister project to Coachwerks, who let us kip on their surprisingly comfortable office floor.

Best bang for buck?

A stray spark shorten this years public fireworks display from 40 minutes to 40 seconds.
It looked way more impressive than the fireworks over the Brandenburg gate for Berlin’s reunification celebration, if fact the German show looked a fizzer compared to Whakatane’s blast.
I hope they make this an annual feature.
Apparantly it caused a near spectator stampede.
Great guns there old home town, you’ve done me proud!

This picture was taken at my 6 year old grand daughter’s Girl Scout meeting in Switzerland!  This is an effigy that the girls made of the traitor, Guy Fawkes, who in 1605 with 13 other young men attempted to burn down the Houses of Parliament.  Every year on November 5th, the Brits celebrate his capture by burning these effigies on a bon fire!  Not quite sure what my grand daughter thought of all this!!!

Dupa ce am sarbatorit Hallow’s end pe 30 Octombrie, pe 5 Noiembrie vine randul altei sarbatori de care toata lumea a auzit de cand cu V for Vendetta: Bonfire Night sau Guy Fawkes night sau noaptea in care Parlamentul era sa sara in aer in 1605  daca complotul n-ar fi fost decosnspirat.

Ce se intampla de obicei e ca se vand artificii peste tot (nu petarde, health & safety ar intra in spasme) si lumea le aprinde toata saptamana, unii spre sfarsit si altii cand le vine cheful. In acelasi timp primariile organizeaza focuri in parcuri unde lumea se duce si face si gratar daca e frumos afara. Nu intrebati de ce facem gratare in Noiembrie Oricum overall e frumos, mai ales ca la petrecerea la care tocmai fusesem erau artificii si pe drum, si la casele din jurul restaurantului.

Dar ce e si mai frumos este chilli de bonfire night

Wine & ice cream not mandatory but desirable

Chili evident nu e greu de preparat si mai simplu dai £6 sa il mananci pe undeva dar daca tot e timp de pierdut, sa il facem acasa si sa ne uitam la filme. Teoretic ar fi frumos sa pot sa gatesc si sosul de la zero dar deja pare prea mult efort atunci cand masa nu e anticipata (dar despre asta altadata). Asa ca chilli + Terminator: Salvation a fost.

We owe it to Texas & Guy Fawkes

(bonusul)

Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot…

For people who don’t know York was the birth place of Guy Fawkes and attended St Peters school in York along with John and Christopher Wright; both of whom would be among the conspirators of the Gunpowder Plot.
Now what better city would there be for celebrating the Gunpowder Plot than York? Well not if your in York, the City council do not organise any bonfire spectacular or any lesser event to mark the day King James 1st nearly met his maker with a rocket up his ass.
It time to reclaim the 5th of November for Guy Fawkes and pressure the council into holding a celebration in York. I opt for the  Knavesmire where the site of the city gallows was and where Dick Turpin breathed his last.

We should embarrass the council into organising an event for 2010, you can email the york city council here ycc@york.gov.uk and ask them why they dont celebrate one of Yorks finest sons.

I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot…

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,

I know of no reason

Why the Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

Bonfire night (or Guy Fawkes Day) began in 1605 when a bunch of Catholics planned to blow up Parliament. It was a conspiracy FAIL! Guy Fawkes was caught red-handed in the cellar of Parliament House with 36 barrels of gunpowder. He was tortured and executed. And to remind everyone this kind of behaviour stinks, the English celebrate November 5th with drinking, fireworks, and of course, the burning of the Guy – woo party time!

November 5th also happens to be my birthday and I was looking forward to watching a Guy burn but unfortunately it was never meant to be. It’s illegal to start fires in parks which tends to rule out burning effigies in London. What happens instead are fireworks. Lots and lots of fireworks. This year you could have seen firework displays around London, four nights in a row. This is really fab and everything but, how unthoughtful was Guy Fawkes to attempt to destroy Parliament House in November? I mean it’s only one month out from freaking Winter. I went to a Saturday night display at Blackheath  and almost froze my tits off. I was wearing jeans with tights underneath, two pairs of thermal ski socks, boots, scarf, coat, gloves and ear muffs with mulled wine coursing through my body (and I was still cold).  Couldn’t Mr-Smarty-Arse-Fawkes make his anti-government stuff up in July? What a bastard! But, I didn’t even notice the temperature once the display began. Yeah most the pop music at the beginning was naff but the fireworks were bloody brilliant. Definitely up there with the Sydney New Years fireworks. So it was well worth the pain because the half hour-long display was so gorgeous and exciting with one helluva climax!

For more reading on Guy Fawkes and Bonfire night click here and here.

Recently there have been so many activities to join and I am still trying to rest my body, hence a lot flow under the bridge:

• November 1st was Tsuitachigayu which I haven’t attended since August 1st, when I was hit. Ironic that the activity which brings me peace and relaxation is one I can’t go to because I need peace and relaxation. Soon.
• November 3rd was Culture Day and we had the day off. I was hoping to attend a culture festival, but there were some political twists and the Ise Katagami artist wasn’t going to be present this year anyhow.
• A conflicting interest on the 3rd was the opening of the new Ujibashi bridge into the inner shrine. I really wanted to go, but didn’t have accurate information about the events. Recently I had a Guiness with one of the priests and got filled in for next time… in 20 years.
• November 8th there were two events, one at Saiku and another at one of my schools.
• November 9th was a festival at the Self-Defense Force airbase nearby. I wanted to go get photos of the helicopters in action.

Please don’t be mistaken, I am not missing out on everything; just, my activities have been more subdued and restful. For example, over the weekend, I went to a friend’s farm in the countryside and stayed overnight. Although it was not the 5th, we celebrated Guy Fawkes’ day: a little beer, homemade sausage, Cornish pasties, fireworks, a bonfire, good conversation, and fresh air. It was very therapeutic. Although, I forgot my pain meds, I was relaxing enough that nothing felt too severe. Maybe I should do this every weekend.

Or normality might be a better way to put it. I have after all never considered myself to be ordinary or by another name completely sane. The point is that I am returning to myself, and with the added bonus of a decent nights sleep from the young man I am feeling pretty good.

With regards to sleep it was marginally better on Friday night and improved again on Saterday, with the minor detail that my hubby and I both stayed up stupidly late and missed out somewhat on the sleep slot. Then last night he was nearly back to normal with a solid sleep of 11pm to about 7:30am. Having said that I now hear jaws everywhere dropping at how good that is for not quite 5 month old, and it is, so what my friends was I complaining about having a sleep free week, well I guess the point is its all about what you are used to. Way back at the beginning I remember that 3 hours felt like magic, but now I have got used to much longer sleeps going the othe way was painful. I guess I was also getting desperate because with all the stuff about starting solids at 4 months I wondered whether his hungry feeding with zero sleep was going to last all the way until we started to introduce solids. This does not appear to be the case. The second issue was the sudden feeling of being totally alone on realising I didn’t know anyone who had got this far on exclusive brestfeeding. Ironically it was actually someone who had had to introduce a bottle feeding at 3 days. She for a whole host of reasons had been caused to doubt herself and just reinforced that I do know best and should believe in my self because I am his mother. She also said I am doing a good job which was a really important boost.

So I went into Friday afternoon feeling much happier. After a successful trip down to The Mall to get his BabyDan highchair (review to follow but impressed so far) I trundled across to darling hubby’s work and onwards to a friend’s for the weekend.

Saturday was the young master’s first Bonfire Night, for those of you reading from foreign shores this is the celebration of a cheery chap named Guy Fawkes who several hundred years ago had the bright idea of blowing up the king and parliament. Unfortunately for he and his chums the plan was foiled and they all met an untimely and rather unappetising end. We brits commemerate this event every year with large bonfires and accompanying firework displays all around the country and ranging quite frankly from the sublime to the ridiculous. The display we went to was at Christian Malford a little village in WIltshire and is one of the best village displays I have ever seen finishing this year with a galaxy of stars which floated through the sky taking at least a minute to finally fade.

The young man at only 5 months old was transfixed by the beautiful patterns and complained only when I tried to cover his eyes from one of the more intense strobe effects and with his earflaps down and my hands over his ears the bangs didn’t faze him at all. All of this was a huge relief as I love bonfire night and would be disapointed if he hadn’t too.

Well I think that is it for tonight I am off to do some tea got calamari from Morrisons yesterday so that is a bit of a challange. I will let you know how I get on.

Mama X

Masks that supposedly resemble the visage of Guy Fawkes, make popular in the movie V for Vendetta. (Photo from The Daily Blank)

Today I was published at The Daily Blank, Chicago’s only satire site that focuses on local issues.

For your enjoyment I’ll paste the entire article below, because their licensing allows it. Enjoy! …And I have one more piece in the queue, so look out.

Daley to ‘pull an Obama’ to fund CPS

In two about-face moves Tuesday, Chicagoans banded together to stand up to the Daley administration, and the Mayor decided to listen to the majority voice of the people.

Following a protest, Mayor Richard M. Daley issued an edict that every corporate executive who had received preferential treatment under the TIF program would voluntarily cut his or her income by 90 percent.

The mayor did not say what the consequences would be if said executives disobeyed, except that “the shit will hit the fan,” he told the throngs of cheering lower-middle-class people before him.

The Obama administration recently announced that top employees of the seven companies receiving the most bailout money would cut their cash pay by 90 percent. All would be forced to cut their total pay by at least 50 percent, several media outlets reported.

Prompted by recent news of extreme inequality in Chicago Public Schools, almost a million Chicagoans dressed in black and wore masks of Guy Fawkes, a British revolutionary, to march on City Hall Tuesday morning.

At press time it was unclear just how the masses coordinated the sit-in.

The mayor stood on City Hall’s green roof for much of the forty-two minutes during which protesters had the building surrounded. At the end of the standoff, Daley gave up and came outside with a laptop and projector.

“I hear you,” Daley said over the din. “This is your city, not mine.”

He proceeded to project a hastily-arranged PowerPoint onto the side of city hall, diagramming exactly what actions he would take, down to the dollar.

The program goes as follows:

• All CPS schools would receive equal spending-per-pupil. To accomplish this, the higher spenders’ budgets would be cut marginally, while the lower spenders’ budgets would be drastically inflated.

• Money would come largely from the $1 billion “shadow budget” of TIF money said to be in the hands of the Mayor. Any executive who refused to cut his or her pay will lose TIF support.

• Mick Dumke and Ben Joravsky of the Chicago Reader would become co-chairs of a new department, called the Department of Uber Accountability.

Once the throngs cleared from the downtown area, officials noticed they had left behind several items of mob paraphernalia, including torches, pitchforks and 800,000 plastic masks.

“You had better believe that we’re gonna recycle these,” said Suzanne Malik-McKenna, commissioner of Chicago’s Department of Environment. “Put the word down the chain,” Malik-McKenna told a woman to her left.

o

At the fireworks on Clapham Common

I went to 2 firework displays this year. The first was actually on Guy Fawkes night (5th November) and the second was on Saturday night. The first one was on Clapham Common and it was free for all. The fireworks definitely got better towards the end but let’s just say that they weren’t a patch on the ones in Battersea Park on Saturday night (which they charged £6 entry fee for). This year the theme was love – have a look at the heart below.

The smoking heart.

They were co-ordinated to music and were the best fireworks that I have ever seen and probably the most popular – the queue was so long.

Fireworks

They  only lasted about 20mins but were spectacular – afterwards everyone descended on the local pubs. We headed to the Lighthouse where they were doing a special bonfire menu including huge hamburgers and fish and chips.

And some more fireworks...

Best ever….

Zuerst das wichtigste: Die Fotos
Auch als Verlinkung auf: http://wiki.piratenpartei.de/NRW:Landesparteitag_2009.4/Bilder

Und Teiler Döhrden sieht mit meinen Hut einfach nur toll aus *g*:

Die Fotos stehen unter der Creative Commons 3.0 Lizenz, Namensnennung

Wer etwas mehr zum LMV lesen möchte kann dies hier tun: http://www.alios.org/blog/2009/11/die-deckscrew-der-piraten-fur-die-landagswahl-nrw-2010-steht/

An dieser Stelle möchte ich mich erneut in Namen der Technik entschuldigen, dass wir nur einen Audiostream anbieten konnten. Aufgrund des fehlenden WLANs mussten wir auf eine UMTS Fallback Lösung zurückgreifen. Und jeder der selber UMTS hat, weiß das die Upload Raten nicht unbedingt vorzeigefähig sind.

Die AG Schnittchen konnte zwar nicht ihre gesamten Nudeln loswerden, dafür aber das gesamte Parmesan und die gesamte Soße. Aufjedenfall war es eine sehr nette Aktion. Doch eine Bitte: VERLEGT NICHT DIE PAUSE VOR ! Wir wollten die Nudeln so fertig machen, dass sie passend zur Pause fertig sind. Leider konnten wir das ja gestern nicht mehr .

Ich verbleib dann mal mit freundlichen Gruß ,

This year I was too unwell to be able to go out and feel the warmth of a bonfire on my cheeks and hands, or watch as fireworks exploded in glorious hues across the sky. It’s a shame as Guy Fawkes Night is my favourite of the year’s landmarks. I can’t remember too clearly firework displays as a kid, possibly because they might have been restricted to the damp squib that is your dad purchasing a couple of fountains and some sparklers, setting them off in the back garden and telling you you’re having fun.

The first display I can really remember was when I was twelve years old and was significant for me as it was the first bonfire night after my parents divorced. I was actually staying with my father at the time as it was half term and one of my uncles had brought me, plus a couple of cousins, across country in a van to collect some of my mum’s furniture. Possibly out of guilt or possibly under the influence of his new girlfriend (soon to be my stepmother), Dad took us to a big display in a neighbouring village. The bonfire was enormous, the fireworks themselves loud and colourful and seemingly everlasting, and I managed to wangle several hotdogs and burgers out of him too.

Ever since, whenever Guy Fawkes Night comes round, I have tried to be out somewhere smelling the smoke mingled with gunpowder on the air, scoffing fast food if available, and cricking my neck staring up at the pops and bangs and flashes. During my Master’s Degree I was so overloaded with work that I forgot all about the date and did not sort out going to a display. Luckily for me I was at the time living on the third and fourth floors of a building perched on a hill overlooking the city. From the fire escape outside my kitchen window I could see the fireworks from seven different displays, three of them in the city and four at different points on the horizon outskirts. I couldn’t quite smell the fires, though, as my flatmate had cooked us a delicious curry earlier that evening and the aroma still permeated the kitchen.

But this year I was at home while Mrs Planet and the smallest of our children went to see some fireworks in a neighbour’s large garden. I was going to feel sorry for myself but then I remembered the Bonfire Night which followed on from that post-divorce one with my father. Aged thirteen I was home with mum and the night was raining and overcast. Too wet for mum to want to go out into it, too cloudy to see fireworks through my bedroom window. I did manage to watch some in the end: the BBC showed highlights of a London display after the evening news. And the reason I did not end up feeling sorry for myself this year? It was the memory that I watched that BBC display on a black and white TV and went to bed more disappointed than I think I’d even be capable of nowadays.

The other night was great! A secret tipple of almond liqueur was all we had left in the cupboard. So off we went with the Amaretto and knocked on at the old yard, and came upon the great conflagration yonder on the park!

From the glowsticks and so on you’d be forgiven for thinking the Orb had turned up. But it was Metro Radio and a 10k rig I reckon.

Good fireworks too. The thunderous cracks reminded me of Al plugging in the old mahogany bass and thumping the pickups to make it work properly.

Don’t forget – Zadok are playing the Tyne on Thursday night with Kyst and Van Rezner! CM