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We don't have special drinks, we don't have special hats, it doesn't make the news, and no-one seems to care.
But it's St. George's Day. A day in which Englishness should be celebrated. And how do we celebrate it? In the most 'English' way possible - by not celebrating it.
So I'm just putting this here so that a corner of Dakka will be, forever, England.
You know, in most classic paintings the dragon is shown to be quite small. Maybe this is why we don't celebrate it. It's not much of an accomplishment riding a horse over a creature the size of a dog and stabbing it with a sharp wooden stick. I could do that...
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2010/04/23 13:41:44
The Dreadnote wrote:Isn't that thing just a Komodo Dragon?
Go to the National Gallery and check out the St. George and Dragon paintings. They all look like this (although obviously George is mounted in some of them) and in the older paintings, the dragon looks more like a dog.
wikipedia wrote:In the fully-developed Western version, which developed as part of the Golden Legend, a dragon makes its nest at the spring that provides water for the city of "Silene" (perhaps modern Cyrene) in Libya or the city of Lydda, depending on the source. Consequently, the citizens have to dislodge the dragon from its nest for a time, to collect water. To do so, each day they offer the dragon at first a sheep, and if no sheep can be found, then a maiden must go instead of the sheep. The victim is chosen by drawing lots. One day, this happens to be the princess. The monarch begs for her life to be spared, but to no avail. She is offered to the dragon, but there appears Saint George on his travels. He faces the dragon, protects himself with the sign of the cross, slays the dragon, and rescues the princess. The grateful citizens abandon their ancestral paganism and convert to Christianity.
You're King and your daughter is chosen as a sacrifice for a dragon. Knowing that a sheep will suffice instead, wouldn't you bend over backwards to one of the woolly buggers rather than waiting for some nonce to turn up on a horse?
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2010/04/23 14:26:19
True but it just seems like you have ruined the extraneous reasoning behind my curry feast tonight. Damn you Wiki and Flashman if the Mrs finds this out there will be consequences!
How do you promote your Hobby? - Legoburner "I run some crappy wargaming website "
The Dreadnote wrote:Isn't that thing just a Komodo Dragon?
As opposed to what dragons and such are based on?
Best example, the mythical fire lizard Salamander, is based on the fact that salamanders like to sleep in old logs and such, and when people put them on fires they crawled out. People then thought they were born of the fire itself.
I'll raise a glass of tea to Englishness! When is tea time again? I think we uncouth colonials dumped it into the ocean. Something to do with taxes, I believe.
If it is before 4, then I'll have to make do with bagged tea. If it is later, then I can brew a pot with some loose tea I picked up at Harrod's last year.
Klawz-Ramming is a subset of citrus fruit?
Gwar- "And everyone wants a bigger Spleen!"
Mercurial wrote:
I admire your aplomb and instate you as Baron of the Seas and Lord Marshall of Privateers.
Orkeosaurus wrote:Star Trek also said we'd have X-Wings by now. We all see how that prediction turned out.
Orkeosaurus, on homophobia, the nature of homosexuality, and the greatness of George Takei.
English doesn't borrow from other languages. It follows them down dark alleyways and mugs them for loose grammar.
To be honest, I don't care about the religious aspect or where St. George was from. St. Patrick wasn't Irish, for example. For me it's more about having a day to celebrate our country - we should do it, and not feel bad about it. We should not let others make us feel bad about it (super-liberals and the BNP's appropriation of this day being two examples).
You can be proud to be English/British without being a racist - I think more of us should come out of our closets and drown out both the fascists who disgrace our great country, and the extreme left-wingers who are seemingly ashamed of it.
Of course saying that more of us should come out of our closets just reinforces another stereotype that some may have of Englishmen.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Gitzbitah wrote:If it is before 4, then I'll have to make do with bagged tea. If it is later, then I can brew a pot with some loose tea I picked up at Harrod's last year.
You can keep the tea my old son [and I would hope you enjoy it at the price you will have paid at Harrods!], but I shall be drinking either nice [warm] beer or really cold cider until I am blind. Tis more traditional!
This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2010/04/23 16:13:19
How do you promote your Hobby? - Legoburner "I run some crappy wargaming website "
notprop wrote:Of course saying that more of us should come out of our closets just reinforces another stereotype that some may have of Englishmen.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Gitzbitah wrote:If it is before 4, then I'll have to make do with bagged tea. If it is later, then I can brew a pot with some loose tea I picked up at Harrod's last year.
You can keep the tea my old son [and I would hope you enjoy it at the price you will have paid at Harrods!], but I shall be drinking either nice [warm] beer or really cold cider until I am blind. Tis more traditional!
Albatross wrote:You can be proud to be English/British without being a racist - I think more of us should come out of our closets and drown out both the fascists who disgrace our great country, and the extreme left-wingers who are seemingly ashamed of it.
I think patriotism is a load of bollocks. Which I have just learned makes me a left winger. As the old saying goes learn something everyday, learn something worthwhile once a blue moon.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2010/04/23 19:57:16
Flashman wrote:You know, in most classic paintings the dragon is shown to be quite small. Maybe this is why we don't celebrate it. It's not much of an accomplishment riding a horse over a creature the size of a dog and stabbing it with a sharp wooden stick. I could do that...
It is painted in Heroic Scale, rather than True Scale
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
It's not really got much to do with Britain. St. George is the patron saint of England so every year we set aside a day to display our ignorance of all things religious by forgetting it ever happened.
It's like St. Patrick's day, but without the silly hats and fake accents
1500pts
Gwar! wrote:Debate it all you want, I just report what the rules actually say. It's up to others to tie their panties in a Knot. I stopped caring long ago.