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Uriel · Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:19 pm Post subject:

The patriotics sweets ain't so bad when they involve blueberries, strawberries or raspberries, and any kind of sweetened cream cheese frosting, let me tell you!

Uriel · Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:28 pm Post subject:

They're really quite pretty mixed in with nuts and pinecones, etc.

I make my mom lots of fake gingerbread houses for Christmas -- usually papier-mache ones you can buy at hobby stores for a few bucks (made in the Philippines), with paint and added-on details. We were experimenting with recycled crafts, and I found you can also make them out of little milk cartons. I, too, would be scared to eat a real one, what with all the toothpicks you use to wedge them together and the fact that they're old and stale after any length of time. But they sure are pretty.
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Benjamin [inactive] · Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:26 pm Post subject:

The only holiday that I (along with most people here) decorate for is Christmas, which kind of extends into Hogmanay or New Year the week later. However, it's only since about the 1960s that Christmas has really been celebrated in Scotland — up until then, Hogmanay (New Year's Eve) and Ne'erday (New Year's Day) were effectively the Scottish equivalents of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in many other countries.

Other celebrations aren't given so much attention. Burns Night is 25th January and celebrates the Scottish poet Robert Burns — this often involves eating haggis and for some people going to a poetry reading event or something like that.

Easter is a relatively low-key family celebration, though everyone seems to go mad buying buying chocolate eggs for some reason, and some people do put up some decorations. Easter trees were relatively popular at one time, I remember.

May Day is celebrated to a small extent in a variety of ways — where I live, some people gather on the beech late at night on 30th April and then run into the sea naked at sunrise on May 1st, combined with torchlit processions.

Hallowe'en is celebrated to an extent, but many people don't like it. For me, it's usually the night when I switch all the lights off in the front rooms and not answer the door, so as to avoid any trick-or-treaters.

Bonfire Night is 5th November and many people will either go to a public bonfire or have one in their garden, combined with fireworks. This 'celebrates' the failure of a Roman Catholic named Guy Fawkes to blow up what was then the English parliament building (which makes me wonder why it's even celebrated in Scotland anyway). Traditionally, a straw figure called a 'guy' (representing Guy Fawkes) was burned on the bonfire, but this practice has declined in recent years.

St Andrew's Day is 30th November and is the national day of Scotland. Music and dance events are held in Edinburgh and Glasgow, but otherwise it is not celebrated to a very large extent, despite recent attempts to commercialise it (I felt sick when I saw the card shops trying to encourage people to buy their friends and family St Andrew's Day cards). However, it does seem to be celebrated more than St George's Day in England, which is largely ignored.

Of course, much of this only applies to people who are at least notionally from a Christian background. If you're Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Neo-Pagan or something else then you'll have a completely different set of festivals, though you might join in some of the 'Christian' ones as well — Diwali was a very big event when I used to live down in Birmingham. Likewise, if you're actually a practicing Christian then you might make more of Easter.

Uriel · Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:59 pm Post subject:

May 1st (May Day) isn't even remotely celebrated here. It seems very medieval, I guess.

There is no such thing as a 4th of July card, either. Although, of course, now that I've said it, one will miraculously pop into existence, quantum-universe style, complete with a Google link.

Walker · Moderator Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 756

Real pretty, Uriel!

Uriel · Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 6:17 am Post subject:

Caramel? I've only heard of using royal icing (which becomes pretty hard once dry).
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An apple a day....

Walker · Moderator Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 756

Uriel · Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 7:25 pm Post subject:

We hide the plastic eggs with the candy, too, although the real ones keep for surprisingly long without spoiling.

And, of course, no Easter basket is complete without a large chocolate bunny. I got a peanut butter rabbit one year; that was good, too.

Why a witch's face?
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Walker · Moderator Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 756

Uriel · Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 5:46 am Post subject:

Fornicating with the devil! My, my -- we just have a confused rabbit who thinks he's a chicken!

I really like the kids dressing up as witches and going door to door with handmade cards -- that's really adorable! Sweet, too, that they have to trade something of value (their own effort) for something else of value (sweets). That's even better than the Halloween deal -- although a lot of people just get a kick out of checking out the costumes that come to their door. Babies who are dressed up as bumblebees or teddy bears or whatnot always get the biggest oohs and ahs, of course. My mother used to make all my costumes when I was a kid -- no store-bought masks or plastic capes for me! She still loves doing that stuff -- it's a good thing my half-sister actually liked community theater -- she gave my mom the greatest excuse to make fairy dresses and witches' hats and velvet capes and all those things, and I think she would have been stuck doing it anyway just to make my mom happy.....

So, do they go around the neighborhood on Easter, or just to family members, or what?
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Walker · Moderator Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 756

Uriel · Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2008 10:12 pm Post subject:

Yeah, my mom works with several local theaters, making costumes in her spare time. She probably does about 4 plays a year, devoted a couple of months to each play. It takes up some time!

Community theaters are very common, and it's amazing how many talented people there are lurking out there in nine-to-five jobs. Even on base, when I was kid, we had a base theater (my dad was in charge of recreation, so it fell under him), and I would help paint him paint sets, etc. I only acted a couple of times -- I don't get stagefright, but it's just not my thing. We had all kinds of talent on that base -- singers, actors, makeup artists, dialect coaches (we once did a play about Polish immigrants, and somebody, wouldn't you know it, had a genuine Polish wife, who consented to help out and teach them correct pronunciation!). The army funded that deal and provided the facility and a paid director plus a couple other staff members, but in real life it's mostly all volunteer, with funding provided through donations and such, and people just giving their own time and effort because it's a pastime for them. My mom has learned to find all kinds of cool things and thrift stores that she can then take apart and remake into period clothing or whatever....

She says she is going to stop doing the Chrismas shows (always the biggest draw of the year) because they are so labor intensive and detract from her own enjoyment of the season (not to mention eating up all of her vacation relaxation!).
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Walker · Moderator Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 756

That theater on base must've been heaven for those involved. Such resources! About those lurking people, one may wonder how many unknown talents there are out there who will never be known. Frightening thought!

Uriel · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 10:58 pm Post subject:

It's true. Well, I can draw, but how many people have seen my stuff? I'm just not a marketer, and I never wanted to do the business end. So until I got into a gallery, only my close friends and family knew. My sister has an incredible voice (she's trained for years), and my mom says that during her last recital rehearsal, strangers were coming out of other rooms int he builkding and applauding -- but she's lazy and has no ambition, and will not even be going to college next year. But ordinary people are capable of so many things!

I see you've gotten into Peter Pan, by your quote. What's the stroy behind that?

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Walker · Moderator Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 756

Uriel · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 8:59 pm Post subject:

I've been googled! That's so cool!!!!

Unfortunately, my half-sister is my mother's problem, not mine -- I live 1800 miles away, and they live in the same house. And if my mom can't do it, what chance do I have?

My mom is actually in favor of her not going to college next year, because she's really not ready for it. And my mom should know all about that -- the first time she went to college, she dropped out at 18! Then she went back when I was a kid, and got her master's. So sometimes timing is all. i went to college at 18 and then couldn't tear myself away for the next 7 years -- everybody's different. But my mom is having this recital professionally recorded, so that it can someday serve as a college entrance audition. And she isn't going to let my sister sit around and be lazy once she's out of school -- they are researching jobs or volunteer work she can do while she's between classes. Gap years are not popular in the US, but they are in other countries, and so she is using that as a basis.
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An apple a day....