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April 2006

Anzac Day

Anzac Day is a public holiday in New Zealand and Australia. It commemorates the opening of the Dardanelles campaign of 1915 in which allied forces, in particular Australian and New Zealand troops suffered heavy losses. The campaign was ultimatly a heroic failure but became a defining moment in the development of both nations.

Gallipoli

Hock Tuesday

It just so happens that this year Anzac day falls on Hock Tuesday, the second Tuesday following Easter which also commemorates a massacre. This was all news to me until today when I received an email from David Clarke, noted thespian, historian and good bloke. The following is reprinted in its entirety without the kind permission of the author (I'll ask him later):

Greetings and Happy Hock Tuesday! I missed greeting everyone on April 20th. Not only is April 20th Smoke and be happy day, Bowling for Columbine, Hitler's birhtday(and Bob's) and the day in Taiwan when I was a victim of attempted murder by some fu%&ing National Taiwan Police(FBI wannabe)who decided to take the law into his own hands and kill a white guy; whose only crime was riding along on his motorcycle.(It's not only U.S. police who have what Jack Kerouac called "The cop soul"). April 20th is past and now it's April 25th, Hock Tuesday, the second Tuesday after Easter(in case you didn't know) It was celebrated in Shakespeare's England. It commemorated the ancient English massacre of the Danes, an event in which English women were said to have displayed particular valor. It was celebrated, in many places, by women tying up passersby with ropes and demanding money for charity. Towns in the vicinity of Stratford had seasonnal festivals and performed traditional plays. A young Will Shakespeare could have been taken to see the Hock Tuesday play in Coventry, eighteen miles away. He may have glimpsed the Queen when the Hock Tuesday Play performed for Queen Elizabeth in 1575 in nearby Kenilworth( twelves miles from Stratford). Kenilworth was not far from Dragerton also. (sorry I'm thinking of Utah). If an 11 year old wide-eyed young boy from Stratford did see 'Her Majesty' he would have witnessed the greatest theatrical spectacles of the age. As Elizabeth once remarked, "We princes are set on stages in the sight and view of all the world." So Happy Hock Tuesday everyone and Le'ts try , like Dick Cheney to 'Brush up our Shakespeare' I'm refering to 2 Henry VI "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." Love to all, David

"Monkeyfinger Shakespeare" Dave has also contributed an essay on the use of Hendiadys in the writings of Shakespeare with particular reference to the play "Hamlet".

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Easter Sunday: 16/4/06

Around the time of the spring equinox is naturally an appropriate time for various faiths to air their spiritual laundry along lines of renewal, rebirth and resurrection. It may be surprising for some to discover the the Christian celebration of Easter is in part derived from an ancient pagan observation of the onset of spring.

The Saxon goddess "Eostre", from whom we get the name Easter, was a key figure in this. According to legend she was saved by bird which transformed into a hare. Yes, you guessed it! This hare was able to lay eggs. The egg represents new life and the hare, fertility. The Council of Nice in AD325 determined that Easter should fall on the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox.

A multi-denominational overview of the Vernal Equinox: India Times

Easter celebrations in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines are renouned for flagellations and self-crucifixions. While officially frowned apon the practice does persist in some areas. Easter in The Philippines

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The Gospel According to:

Judas

An ancient manuscript dating back to the 3rd or 4th century suggests that the much maligned Judas wasn't such a bad sort after all and was merely acting at J.C.'s behest when he dobbed him in to the Romans. The document, only discovered in the 1970s has been authenticated and is due to be published in English, German and French. It comes at a time when some Vatican scholars are moving to re-evaluate the role of Judas in the crucifixion. It has long been a contention in some quarters that Judas, whose name has become synonymous with betrayal and deceit, was simply carrying out a divine mission and ultimately was forgiven for his treachery.

*The Pope however, doesn't seem to want a bar of it, if his Easter sermon was any indication.

Judas Iscariot, traitor, faithful servant of Christ or fall guy of Gethsemane? The jury has already been out for a couple of millennia on this one so don't expect a final verdict to be delivered any time soon.

Judas, the misunderstood A case for the defence

In unrelated news a man in Malaysia recently received a telephone bill for 806,400,000,000,000 ringgit (roughly US$218 trillion) and ordered to pay within 10 days or face prosecution.

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Shafts of Strife

During the 1980s Trace Hodgson was a political cartoonist for The New Zealand Listener, a weekly current affairs and entertainment guide. The serial "Shafts of Strife", a forgotten classic is now available in its entirety on the web. Click the image below:

More Trace Hodgson Cartoons

Tomb Sweeping Day 5/4/2006

Tomb Sweeping Day (Qing Ming Jie) is a traditional Chinese holiday which falls two weeks after the vernal equinox. On this day family members tidy up around the graves of family members, make offerings of food and burn "ghost money".

A 24 year old Shanghai man recently tried to auction his soul on the internet through Taobao.com The highest bid came to 681 yuan before the website cancelled the bid as they didn't understand how someone could sell their soul.

Web India 123 - Chinese man offers to sell his soul.

It's amazing what people will try to sell. Back in October last year we reported on a kiwi bloke tring to flog off a Time Machine on New Zealand's Trade Me website.

Continuing on with the Asian theme we have a couple of highly educational films. Firstly a young Asian-American student looks into the contentious issue of why Asian guys get fewer chicks.

The second film looks at "The Asian Squat" how it developed, how to do it and what you can achieve with it. Happy Tomb Sweeping Day!