Krazy Krystal's Laboratory

Remember, remember the 5th of November

During my PhD I spent a summer (read: winter) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA where was able to witness and participate in the local 4th of July celebrations. To my utter disbelieve, people there actually asked me if we had 4th of July in Australia. And I don't mean the average "I voted for Dubya" man on the street, I'm talking about my scientific peers! Of course the only reply to that kind of question is "Yes of course Australians celebrate the American Independance Day. Without it we wouldn't have existed" and leave them to think about it quietly for a while. Now, while I would expect such ignorance from the Yanks, I was quite shocked to be recently asked if Australians celebrate Guy Fawkes Day...

Of course, to be fair, I do remember having bonfire night as a kid. I'm sure it had more to do with my mother being British than any commonwealth pro-monachist statement, though looking at the state of our nation, you could be forgiven for thinking. Of course, this was in the day when fireworks could be easily obtained and there wasn't a constant total fire ban due to catastrophic drought. We used to have fireworks in the backyard, and a fire in 44 gallon drum split in half lengthways and then we'd roast potatoes in their jackets and bananas stuffed with chocolate and marshmellow wrapped in foil. Ahh.. childhood, you always remember the food :)

Seeing as York is the birthplace of Mr. Fawkes, I was very excited to have my first official UK bonfire night here! And actually bonfire night really extends to include most of the week, there's been fireworks going off all over York since about Wednesday. In fact I can still see red and green sparks out my window right now, they must have put all the leftover stock on sale at Tesco. Yes, you can buy fireworks at the supermarket here. It is unbelievable. England is generally a complete nanny-state - you can't have a powerpoint or a light switch in the bathroom in case you electrocute yourself, but you can buy over the counter practically industrial strength pyrotechnics and blow yourself and others to smithereens all to the tune of "God save the King" and it's perfectly fine. I think that 364 days of sensible well policed "rules help control the fun" behaviour creates a subterranean seething mass of recklessness that explodes (literally) on November 5. Of course I'm not one to talk about OH&S with regardles to flammables. I know the "Cocktails and sparklers don't mix" rule. Now. *giggle*

I went with cazandy (who wish to be known as Candy, but won't be) to a pub in Bishopthorpe - a village just outside York. That's right. We don't have suburbs here in the English countryside: the local satellite communities are known as villages, cute huh? There was a HUGE bonfire in the back garden of the pub, and it was just amazing. It was a cold clear night, and it was awesome to stand in front of the fire and feel the heat radiate through me until it hurt and I had to take a step back because I felt like I was about to spontaneously combust. Then the fireworks were just terrific. I was bouncing. Lots. My favourite was the one that looked like someone took a great big bright silver shiny thing and mashed it through a garlic press and punched out hundreds of tiny bright silver shiny things into the sky all at once. Oh and the one with secondary bangs. It shoots up high in the air and then goes "bang" with coloured sparks that fly out of it, and then just when you think it's all over, the coloured sparks themselves go "bang"!! It was so cool !!!

NB: Anyone caught leaving comments on my blog using double entendres about fireworks will be frowned at for a lack of creativity - It's just too easy, so just resist the temptation and just don't go there.

Oh! And I cooked parkin. It's a traditional Yorkshire cake served on bonfire night (not something teenagers do to get to know each other better - oops sorry, i should take my own advice). I used this recipe, but i think it needed more ginger. And it's more traditional to use dark treacle instead of golden syrup, someone said it looked a bit anaemic, so i'm on the look out for my nearest treacle well.

Then to end off the fabulous evening, The Ghost Tour Guide, The Hat Thief, The E-Bay Shoe Addict, Magical Not-Trevor and I went and ran around Knavesmire with sparklers! Hooray !!!!

posted by Dr Krystal @ 7:43 pm