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Topic: The Holiday Greetings Thread (Read 26880 times)

Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #75
This Sunday it will Belgian National Day. It commemorates King Leopold I swearing allegiance to the constitution. Once upon a time they used to celebrate the withdrawal of Dutch forces from Brussels on 27 September 1830. It's not clear to me why it was changed; this page only says that it was changed in 1890.

I was leafing through the Metro on the train today, and it was full of silly stuff. Sauces & condiments proclaiming they were best to go with the "Belbicue," and the Metro itself had an article about 10 great inventions from Belgium. French fries, roller skates, saxophones, bakelite, gasoline engines, the Big Bang, and some other stuff that slipped my mind. They claimed 60% of Belgians dislikes it when you say French fries instead of Belgian fries, probably tongue in cheek but I wasn't 100 % sure. ;)

 

Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #76
The year of the metal rat, that began 25 January last year, is on its last three hours.

This to be followed by two weeks of spring festival.


Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #77
Happy Fourth of July, Trans-Ponders :)

[video]https://youtu.be/jWJVMoe7OY0[/video]

Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #78
Last year I simply wished that the year (2020) end and never be back. This year I dare to hope that next year be better than this one :psmurf:

To everyone  :wine:  :beer:  :coffee:

Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #79
Happy 27th of December! :D

Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #80
The strangest thing about the Victory Day parade in Moscow this year was the absence of victory. Normally it’s there, the victory over Nazi Germany, a safely won triumph, unchangeably in the past, veterans and the glorious dead honoured, the country rebuilt, and in his speech today Vladimir Putin went through the motions of commemorating it. But this year, for the first time since the original Victory, Russian troops are openly fighting a war against the descendants of their Ukrainian former comrades-in-arms, on land whose evocative toponymy casts doubt on Russia’s traditional representation of May 1945.

After the speech, after the military parade, Putin, as usual, went to lay a flower on each of a row of granite blocks outside the Kremlin walls commemorating the ‘hero cities’ judged to have shown special valour in the struggle against the Nazis. He laid the first flower on the monument to heroic Leningrad, his home town. He laid the second flower, without any noticeable hesitation, on the monument to heroic Kiev.



Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #83
World Toilet Day is held every year on 19 November. It has been an annual United Nations Observance since 2013.
Did we miss this one?

Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #84
Merry Xmas to you all. I hope you are having a good day whatever you have planned.
The start and end to every story is the same. But what comes in between you have yourself to blame.

Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #85
Merry third Christmas day!


Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #87
Kremlin trying to change Volgograd's name back to Stalingrad

Putin was scheduled to visit Volgograd on February 2. His agenda included laying a wreath before the Eternal Flame of the Mamayev Kurgan memorial complex and strolling through the museum dedicated to the Battle of Stalingrad. At its entrance, three busts of Stalin (as supreme commander of the USSR armed forces) and of the marshals Gueorgi Zhúkov and Aleksandr Vasilevski, responsible for the first great Soviet victory, were inaugurated on Wednesday.
Not sure how numbers work in English, but it was not three busts of Stalin. Rather, it was one of Stalin, and two more of the marshals, altogether three busts. It would be silly to do three busts of Stalin. As most Western Europeans (those not brainwashed by Russophobic propaganda) know, Putin is not some crazy war-mongering despot promoting dictators of the past or propping up a cult of personality of his own. Just one bust of Stalin is okay. Moderation is key.

In the pic the city entrance signs have already been changed for the celebration of 80th anniversary of the battle of Stalingrad and to welcome Putin.



Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #88
Today is the independence day of Estonia. Also the one-year anniversary of Russia's war on Ukraine. To mark both occasions, Ursula von der Leyen (chief of European Commission) and Jens Stoltenberg (chief of NATO) met with Kaja Kallas (prime minister of Estonia) in Tallinn and had a press conference giving some statements and providing some updates.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a14y7GkdgDI

Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #89
Another Swedish holiday sounds likely. There are plenty, and easy to lampoon.

Midsommar is particularly popular (that I have done). Now also as a horror movie. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0UWIya-O0s

Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #90
It's Easter weekend, guys. It's a serious celebration.



Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #92
Yesterday I noticed that Europe Day and Russia's Victory Day are on the same date. This time it did not go well to either of them.

Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #93
Victoria Day (French: Fête de la Reine, lit. 'Celebration of the Queen') is a federal Canadian public holiday celebrated on the last Monday preceding May 25 to honour Queen Victoria. The holiday has been observed in Canada since at least 1845, originally on Victoria's natural birthday, May 24.
Elizabeth ruled longer and now they have Charles III. Charles III is of course no cause for celebration. Soon banknotes with his image will be in circulation and the British pound can be expected to tank even further.

Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #94
Today it is 700 years from Treaty of Nöteborg (1323), which drew a border between Russia (Novgorod) and Sweden. The treaty is a defining event in the history of Finland such that Savo would belong to Sweden and Karelia to Novgorod.

The original treaty has not been preserved. The historical documents about the treaty date from a century or more later and are so divergent that some assume that there was no actual written treaty, but rather a reconciliatory ritual after a bunch of battles. The borders allegedly defined by the treaty are clear only on what is currently known as Karelian Isthmus and less clear north of that.

The treaty did not hold very long as battles continued. In 1337 Karelians rebelled against Käkisalmi/Keksholm/Korela castle from where they were ruled and taxed, and Swedes (with an army consisting of Finns of Savo) intervened and took the castle. Novgorod mobilised and reconquered the castle and in next treaty 1339 the borders of the Treaty of Nöteborg were reasserted. Thus later treaties reconfirmed borders with reference to Treaty of Nöteborg, whereas the content of the Treaty of Nöteborg is unknown these days and its borders are known only insofar as the red line in the picture due to later reconfirmations https://yle.fi/a/74-20044882





Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #96
Merry Xmas.to you all.  :cheers:
The start and end to every story is the same. But what comes in between you have yourself to blame.

Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #97
Merry Christmas!

Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #98
Oh, yes, and soon day of divergence. Again. 

If we are giving up on summer time, maybe we should give up time zones as well?

Re: The Holiday Greetings Thread

Reply #99
And now we have entered the year of the wood dragon.