I guess I'm not giving anything away by mentioning that MTVs web site indicates that the next episode is titled, "Depth Takes a Holiday," a fantasy episode about holidays like Christmas, Halloween and Guy Fawkes Day. Guy Fawkes Day? That's a new on me. I did a search on Yahoo! and found several people had put up web pages on this subject--bless their little hearts. I'd heard a little about this incident in English history but I was unaware that it was celebrated as a holiday.
Comments?
Bob
R. K. Henry wrote in message ...
Day.
I agree, not a spoiler.
I guess the title of the forthcoming ep refers to the 1934 film "Death Takes a Holiday," or to the play which sired the film. Tantalising teaser for the Trent tremblers <g>: the strapline used in the film's publicity was, "No woman ever loved such a man! The whole world waited while he made love!" (Source: Halliwell, 1996).
I don't know, RK, how much you've learned from the websites you've visited, so I'll spare everyone the history, and spare you all a treatise on the customs associated with what we know it as Bonfire Night. I've never heard or seen it referred to as "Guy Fawkes Day," except in an American encyclopaedia; though NODE defines, "Guy Fawkes Night," as, "another term for Bonfire Night." It's not a public holiday.
The thing I found most chilling about the history of the Gunpowder Plot is the facsimiles of Guy Fawkes's signature before his arrest, and of the weak and spidery scrawl with which he signed the confession. The difference was the result of gruesome torture.
This cheery background to keep in mind on Wednesday is supplied free of charge by, Martin.
In article , "Martin Sylvester" wrote:
I'm not going to argue with you, but I frequently heard references to Guy Fawkes Day when I lived in London.
Mikel Midnight wrote in message ...
Perhaps a regional thing? Any London (or other UK) Darianites care to comment? Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Day? I'm not asking which is right (as if either were), but which you hear used to refer to 5th November.
Martin.
I suspect this may be part of the North/South Divide. Up North (where I come from) it's almost exclusively "Bonfire Night" (sometimes "Bonny Night") with a *very* occasional "Guy Fawkes Night" but I've heard "Guy Fawkes Night" quite commonly down in London where I live now. I've never heard "Guy Fawkes DAY", though (though this doesn't mean nobody's ever said it, just that they've never said it where I could hear).
One place you'll hear neither is St Peter's School in York, who don't have a bonfire at all as Guido Fawkes was a pupil at the school before becoming an urban terrorist/freedom fighter (delete whichever you disagree with).
In article , [email] wrote:
Ok, let's compromise; I heard frequent references to "Guy Fawkes Night" and Americanised it in my mind to "Guy Fawkes Day". This way I still get to be delusional but not completely so. ;)
Martin Sylvester wrote:
We always called it bonfire night....no wait, the other one....I can't even remember! LOL, oh dear....I've been doing too much work. And I've still got to do some History coursework for tomorrow, and we've been given our Art exam papers and the exam's right after Easter and I haven't finished a single piece of coursework yet.....
In article , "Martin Sylvester" wrote:
Well, as an ex-Londoner (and Daria fan as of 3 weeks ago, Hi people), I always call it 'Bonfire Night' or less often, 'Guy Fawkes Night', and that is how people I knew there referred to it as well.
I didn't hear it called 'Guy Fawkes Day' until I moved across the pond to Tucson, Arizona, but that was by a Canadian... make of that what you will.
(Currently enjoying warm sunny days and season 3 of Daria... life is good here.)
the teaser from "Death Takes a Holiday"
Heh, considering Trent's lack of energy, if the whole world didn't "wait" (or at least the object of his affections) I doubt he'd stand a chance of getting anywhere ...
Sincerely Yours, Jordan
It isn't. This is a common US misconception about Guy Fawkes Day (aka Bonfire Night). Traditionally we celebrate it with bonfires, fireworks and certain boinfire-related foods, but it is not, and never has been, celebrated as a public holiday.
Regards
Tony
Tony Walton of Sun Microsystems writes:
Bonfire Night is actually a very old winter festival which somehow got co-opted by the Guy Fawkes thing, perhaps because of the obvious gunpowder/explosions link. But it's worth noting that the same weekend we celebrate Guy Fawkes, the local Hindus are having their visually indistinguishable Festival of Lights. I daresay Thanksgiving is the US equivalent?
-Shez.
Shez wrote in message ...
Well, no. Despite the thrill every good American parent seems to get from buying their kid a bag of quarter-sticks of dynamite and telling them to "have fun," from what I've seen of America recreational explosives are not associated with Thanksgiving. Reason? Thanksgiving is celebrated with the consumption of extremely large quantities of food. Thus, by three in the afternoon, all America is taking a nap. (American researchers, gotta love 'em, now claim turkey and sweet potatoes actually have sedative properties.) So the kids will have to wait until Christmas or New Year's or July 4th or Labor Day or Memorial Day or Arbor Day to shoot their fireworks. (Ok, I was kidding about Arbor Day) Of course, holiday traditions are regional so anything could be happening in parts of the US I've never observed.
As always -- BB
"A penny for the Old Guy"
"B_B_England" wrote:
And watching professional football! Don't forget that! That way, see, you can avoid talking to all of those annoying relatives who've descended upon you... all driving you crazy with their mixed bag of neuroses and boring stories about their stupid pets. Some of us sleep, some of us merely *feign* sleep. <vbg>
Well, here in the South (say it with a capital "S," mister! <g>), we love any excuse to blow shit up <g>, but usually we don't do it if it's colder than 60 degrees F outside. So, for things like July 4, graduation, monster truck rallys, etc., etc., you get the idea. And, of course, since all kinds of large, dangerous explosive fireworks are sold in South Carolina, everyone knows where to go to stock up. <g>
feeling depressed because his alma mater tanked it in the 1st round of the NCAAs, rich.
Quinn: People are so weird!
Daria: Some are weird. Some are just astonishingly self-centered and deceitful.
If there is a kosher in the address, it's a spamstopper (Geddit?); remove to reply.
Shez wrote in message ...
was
Toffee apples, mainly. And Parkin, a kind of heavy gingerbread (it defies exact description). In Yorkshire and Lancashire, and possibly other areas, we used to have mischief night - the 4th of November. Like trick or treat, but no treat option! Also, a good opportunity to, 'liberate' some extra fuel for the fire...
I thought Hindu Diwali was earlier? Leicester's Asian quarter was always decorated at the start of the uni year, which was early October. Me duck.
The old (pagan) festivals have surely been rolled up into Halloween. The witches and things are a bit of a giveaway.
Tony Walton wrote in message ...
Day.
was
Does it have some special political or other significance or is it just a lame excuse to get drunk and party?
Do retailers use it as a marketing ploy?
I have no misconceptions about Guy Fawkes Day, common or otherwise. Before I read about the Daria Episode I'd never heard of Guy Fawkes Day or Bonfire Night and barely remembered hearing about the historical incident from a program on the History Channel. I think it's interesting that the Daria creative team would include it. Of course it remains to be seen just how much they'll actually include in the episode. Probably nothing more than a mention.
I guess I'll find out Wednesday night. Of course spoiler rules still apply to actual details about the episode. Don't want to ruin things for people who would prefer to be surprised.
Bob
In article , "R. K. Henry" wrote:
Okay... [cracks knuckles]
The History of Guy Fawkes Night, as told by someone with only a scant scattering of English Historical knowledge...
There was this guy, right, Guy Fawkes, right? An' he wanted to blow up parliament. 'Cause this was back in Sixteen-thingummy-doo-dah, right, an' the king, Charles I think, or somebody, right, he was like, a protestant, yer know? An' he was persecuting the Catholics, then. To be fair, the previous monarch was a Catholic, an' was smacking the protestants about during their time, an' there was lots of it goin' on back then. Catholic king beat on the protestants, protestant king beat on the catholics, swappin back an' forth with every new monarch. So, a-a-anyway, this Guy Fawkes geezer, bein' a catholic, had it in for the king. So 'im an' 'is mates, see, they come up with this plan, right, to blow up parliament. So there thay are, smugglin' in great barrels o' gunpowder, underneath the 'ouses of parliament, right? Now, come November 5th, that's when the king would be actually in parliament, so that's when these blokes were gonna blow it up. So they's down there, all ready with their torches, ready to set the whole thing off, when all these soldiers come runnin' in, and arrests them, 'cause they been rumbled, see? So this "Gunpowder Plot" has been foiled see, and Guy Fawkes is tried for Treason, and burned at the stake, or something. So, the English being the English, every year since then we've celebrated the day by having a big bonfire, and burning an effigy of Guy Fawkes on it, letting off fireworks, and 'aving a jolly lot o' fun. Simple innit?
Going back to previous points, Guy Fawkes night isn't a particularly heavily marketed holiday, especially not compared to Halloween. Sales of fireworks go up in the preceding weeks, as do incidents of kids letting off fireworks in the street, because they have nothing better to do. Kids also use it as a scam for cash, by displaying their Guy Fawkes effigies and asking passersby "Penny for the Guy?". At least, that's how it used to be. Back in _my_ day we had a better class of Guy, kids took their time making a real Guy out of old stuffed clothing, making a proper head for it, and everything. Nowadays, I reckon kids have no idea what it's all about, National Curriculum not withstanding, except as an excuse to illegally buy fireworks and let them off in the street. Some of the saddest Guys I've seen were little more than an empty tracksuit draped on the ground, with some kid standing next to it saying "Guy, mate?".
That's me done then, and everything cleared up I hope.
Yes.
Yes.
It's basically a time for an outdoor party with a bonfire, bbq and fireworks. It's the only time of year you can legally buy fireworks in the UK for home use, though in most areas there are public bonfires and fireworks displays too. Come to think of it, this is the only publicly organised party that you will find in most parts of Britain.
The only political bit is the burning of an effigy of your choice on the bonfire, traditionally Guy Fawkes (who tried to blow up Parliament in the 1600's or thereabouts) but in recent years it tended to be Margaret Thatcher, though now I guess another bogeyman has to be found.
-Shez.