Also famous outside the region, Gansabhauet is a ritual held on St Martin's Day, 11 November, in Sursee. A dead goose is suspended from the back of its head, and participants (mostly young men but also some women) attempt to sever its neck with a blunt sabre. During the ceremony, they are blindfolded by a pointed cap which covers the face, and also wear a golden sun mask and a red cloak. Before striking their single blow, they reach out for the goose with awkward movements in order to ascertain its position and work out the ideal impact point. The order of the participants is determined by drawing lots. It usually takes between five and twenty blows to decapitate the two geese. The action takes place on a stage before the town hall in front of around 3,000 spectators. Also included in the programme are various games for children and young people such as pole climbing, sack races and gurning (pulling faces) – the latter event is known as «Chäszänne», because the children are rewarded for their efforts with a piece of cheese. Gansabhauet is brought to a close in the evening with the «Räbeliechtli-Umzug», a procession of lanterns made from turnips, as well as a festive meal of goose dishes in the town hall and surrounding restaurants. The origins of this ritual are unclear, but are likely to date back to the late Middle Ages. Having disappeared from the festival calendar around 1820, Gansabhauet was revived in 1863.
Post something you've learnt today
- harvey k-tel
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Re: Post something you've learnt today
I just learned about this rather weird and grim festival in Switzerland:
Tempora mutatur et nos mutamur in illis
- souphound
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Re: Post something you've learnt today
harvey k-tel wrote:... the children are rewarded for their efforts with a piece of cheese...
But seriously, how strange a "festival" indeed.
Footy wrote:Last week, I discovered that the cordless drill I bought about 5 years ago is, in fact, a cordless screwdiver.
- C
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Talking to Zap today about ‘black tie’ took me to this - I always wondered where ‘tuxedo’ came from.
Today we associate black tie with the most formal of events. But this wasn’t always the case.
Black tie was born as a fashion concept in 1885. Originally, it represented a relaxing of attitudes around dress codes.
Edward VII, tired of traditional formal wear, decided to swap out his typical tailcoat. To replace it, he commissioned a silk smoking jacket with matching trousers, designed by iconic Savile Road tailor, Henry Poole.
This new style retained some elements of traditional evening wear: the winged collar and the bow tie. But the overall look, without the tails, was far more casual and comfortable.
This style was soon adopted by members of the Tuxedo Club in New York. Hence the Americanism, tuxedo. In the UK, it’s a dinner jacket.
White dinner jackets appeared in the 1930s, designed for wealthy holidaymakers. Because a black suit in tropical weather was hardly appropriate
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Today we associate black tie with the most formal of events. But this wasn’t always the case.
Black tie was born as a fashion concept in 1885. Originally, it represented a relaxing of attitudes around dress codes.
Edward VII, tired of traditional formal wear, decided to swap out his typical tailcoat. To replace it, he commissioned a silk smoking jacket with matching trousers, designed by iconic Savile Road tailor, Henry Poole.
This new style retained some elements of traditional evening wear: the winged collar and the bow tie. But the overall look, without the tails, was far more casual and comfortable.
This style was soon adopted by members of the Tuxedo Club in New York. Hence the Americanism, tuxedo. In the UK, it’s a dinner jacket.
White dinner jackets appeared in the 1930s, designed for wealthy holidaymakers. Because a black suit in tropical weather was hardly appropriate
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Lord Rother wrote:And there was me thinking you'd say "Fair enough, you have a point Bob".
- Charlie O.
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C wrote:This style was soon adopted by members of the Tuxedo Club in New York. Hence the Americanism, tuxedo.
More accurately, the country club in Tuxedo Park, "a village in Orange County, New York. The population was 623 at the 2010 census... The name is derived from a Native American word of the Lenape language, tucsedo or p'tuxseepu, which is said to mean 'crooked water' or 'crooked river'."
The Wiki page is actually kind of interesting.
- C
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Thanks Chas - very interesting
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Lord Rother wrote:And there was me thinking you'd say "Fair enough, you have a point Bob".
- robertff
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Apparently when the media broke the news that BP garages had fuel supply problems there were only 5 garages out of 200 closed and it was a completely unnecessary announcement. If this is true the media has created the current chaos at petrol stations knowing that panic will always set in when shortages of any kind are announced. Gave them an easy story to report on for days.
As someone daubed in white paint on a board that I saw somewhere, 'THE MEDIA IS THE VIRUS'.
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As someone daubed in white paint on a board that I saw somewhere, 'THE MEDIA IS THE VIRUS'.
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- Diamond Dog
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Re: Post something you've learnt today
robertff wrote:Apparently when the media broke the news that BP garages had fuel supply problems there were only 5 garages out of 200 closed and it was a completely unnecessary announcement. If this is true the media has created the current chaos at petrol stations knowing that panic will always set in when shortages of any kind are announced. Gave them an easy story to report on for days..
Or, maybe, with a Govt who have - as always- been caught completely unprepared when a crisis arrives, due to an absolute inability to take action before the potential problem becomes a real problem.
My money's on the incompetent, corrupt, lying fuckwits in Government - how about you?
Nicotine, valium, vicadin, marijuana, ecstasy, and alcohol -
Cocaine
Cocaine
- Jimbly
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There was a guy called Arthur McManus who was born in Belfast, Union Official during the Red Clydeside strikes in Glasgow moved down to England. He was the first leader of the Communist part in the UK. He was named in a letter related to the Zinoev forgery which attempted to smear Labour just before an election.
He's buried in the Kremlin Wall, haven't found out if we are related.
He's buried in the Kremlin Wall, haven't found out if we are related.
So Long Kid, Take A Bow.
- C
- Robust
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That Kylie Minogue has lived in the UK for the last 30 years....!
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Lord Rother wrote:And there was me thinking you'd say "Fair enough, you have a point Bob".
- Minnie the Minx
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I watched ‘Diary of a Mad Housewife’ the other day and learned a lot! I learned that Neil Young wrote ‘ A Man Needs A Maid’ about Carrie Snodgress, the surprisingly cute Frank Langella used to date Whoopi Goldberg, and that his book about his life is supposedly absolutely fantastic.
You come at the Queen, you best not miss.
Dr Markus wrote:
Someone in your line of work usually as their own man cave aka the shed we're they can potter around fixing stuff or something don't they?
Flower wrote:I just did a google search.
- Minnie the Minx
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You come at the Queen, you best not miss.
Dr Markus wrote:
Someone in your line of work usually as their own man cave aka the shed we're they can potter around fixing stuff or something don't they?
Flower wrote:I just did a google search.
- Minnie the Minx
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Some Yorkshire cheeses in the 1840s used the stomach of calves as a curdling agent for their cheese and this was called ‘Prezzur’ which sounds much nicer than the actual thing
I’m reading this in an old book on the Yorkshire dales at a nice restaurant with a big bottle of wine so I won’t remember any of this soon, I sincerely hope.
I’m reading this in an old book on the Yorkshire dales at a nice restaurant with a big bottle of wine so I won’t remember any of this soon, I sincerely hope.
You come at the Queen, you best not miss.
Dr Markus wrote:
Someone in your line of work usually as their own man cave aka the shed we're they can potter around fixing stuff or something don't they?
Flower wrote:I just did a google search.
- Minnie the Minx
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If cheese was too hard, they would turn it into thongs!
You come at the Queen, you best not miss.
Dr Markus wrote:
Someone in your line of work usually as their own man cave aka the shed we're they can potter around fixing stuff or something don't they?
Flower wrote:I just did a google search.
- Minnie the Minx
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A Nidderdale man holds the world record for butter churning. 12 hrs by hand
You come at the Queen, you best not miss.
Dr Markus wrote:
Someone in your line of work usually as their own man cave aka the shed we're they can potter around fixing stuff or something don't they?
Flower wrote:I just did a google search.
- Minnie the Minx
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Liverpool potters used to send their pottery abroad packed in oat husks sent to them by Yorkshire farmers!
You come at the Queen, you best not miss.
Dr Markus wrote:
Someone in your line of work usually as their own man cave aka the shed we're they can potter around fixing stuff or something don't they?
Flower wrote:I just did a google search.
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If love could've saved you, you would've lived forever.
- GoogaMooga
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"Let's go, Brandon!"
"When the desert comes, people will be sad; just as Cannery Row was sad when all the pilchards were caught and canned and eaten." - John Steinbeck
- Minnie the Minx
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Re: Post something you've learnt today
The two falling notes at the start of the Vertigo soundtrack are a direct imitation of the two notes sounded by fog horns at the side of the Golden Gate Bridge
You come at the Queen, you best not miss.
Dr Markus wrote:
Someone in your line of work usually as their own man cave aka the shed we're they can potter around fixing stuff or something don't they?
Flower wrote:I just did a google search.
- Minnie the Minx
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Re: Post something you've learnt today
Slugger wrote:file it up yer ass for all i care.
Acc. to someone on Songfacts Bowie fucked the 16 yrs. old girl in the China girl video and her parents tried to sue him but she wasn't under age in Australia where it happend and she consented.
She was a 23 year old model called Geeling Ng but whatever.
You come at the Queen, you best not miss.
Dr Markus wrote:
Someone in your line of work usually as their own man cave aka the shed we're they can potter around fixing stuff or something don't they?
Flower wrote:I just did a google search.
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Re: Post something you've learnt today
That Jay Black (David Blatt) of Jay and the Americans sung this song about the Holocaust, also that it is his favorite of all the songs that he sang.
R.I.P. thanks for the music, it was always filled with love.
R.I.P. thanks for the music, it was always filled with love.
If love could've saved you, you would've lived forever.