Saturday, February 05, 2005

A Very Merry Waitangi Day To You All

mmmmm..... had the most delicious meal ever last night: exciting champagne, foie gras with strawberries and sugared grapes, roast rabbit in a tingly garlic-red wine sauce with baby carrots and a highly amusing salad. My stomach is still in raptures of joy, and I may never eat again.

***

I also read ahead in my desk calendar (to see the next Get Fuzzy cartoon) and noticed that tomorrow is "Waitangi Day" in New Zealand! Waitangi, Waitangi, Waitangi... Waitangi! I Love that word, I can't stop saying it, and I now want to sprinkle it liberally throughout all my conversations...

Angelina Jolie: "L, you look simply marvelous today!"
L: "Waitangi very much. I bathed."

Fred Astaire : "L, you are so graceful and adorably coordinated-- can you dance the Waltz and the Watusi as well?"
L: "No. I have been spreading myself rather thin lately, being both a Charming Young Person About Town AND a Geek Who Is In Demand. I can only dance the Waitangi, I'm afraid."

Leonard Nimoy: "L, you seem rather pale and sickly today. Is everything quite all right?"
L: "I'm afraid not, Leonard. I've been to the doctor, and it appears to be a rather dreadful case of Waitangi. The prognosis is not good."


Of course, as we all know, Waitangi is NOT a handy catchphrase, a dance or a dreadful disease.

No. Waitangi Day is that magical time of year in New Zealand when the Waitangi Wallaby comes out of hiding to bring sackfuls of toys and treats to all the good little children who have remembered to leave out plates of muffins and glasses of milk. Along with his friends (the solitary and flightless Kiwi and the solitary and flightless Kakapo), the Waitangi Wallaby sings a little song and crashes through your windows to leave presents under the decorated Tutu bush. On Waitangi Day it is traditional to hunt for cheese bits and beer, dye your hair a festive color and light candles at bus stations.

Don't forget to celebrate on this Festive Occasion!

9 Comments:

Blogger L said...

yep

however, the way I celebrate is slightly unorthodox :)

it's supposed to be some National Holday celebrating a treaty or something...

2:49 PM  
Blogger Peter Wall said...

Wow. That is way cooler than Groundhog Day.

So you're a Get Fuzzy fan too, eh? I love that thing. Get 'em in my email daily. The books of strips sell astonishingly well at the bookstore where I work, too. My boss can't understand why, though, because she just doesn't get them. She thinks you need to have a degree in philosophy to understand Get Fuzzy or something. Which I think is hilarious in its own right. ;-)

3:25 PM  
Blogger Frally said...

I'll back L up on the "it's a real holiday" front, as I live in New Zealand. However, I'm not officially allowed to celebrate it as I'm Australian. (For anyone that doesn't know, Kiwis hate Australians and vice-versa. I have to PRETEND I'm a Kiwi so that I don't get stoned walking down the street)

L, I forgot to answer your question about all the flightless birds a few comments ago. They never grew wings because there weren't any land-dwelling predatory animals for them to fly away from thousands of years ago. Luckily, white man has put a stop to that nonsense and now they are endangered. Chalk another one up, white folks.

4:29 PM  
Blogger LK said...

L, I think that your way to celebrate Waitangi Day is so much cooler than the way we do it here: in the past it has been traditionally a day of protests and mud slinging. I think the Waitangi Wallaby is so much better, even though the Wallaby is from Australia, and I shall endeavour to change our celebratory habits from this day forth.

I'm off now to dye my hair a festive colour and to go a cheese and beer hunting with my sackful of candles..

8:26 PM  
Blogger Roonie said...

Waitangi Day...I like the idea. Sounds like Easter and Groundhog's Day kinda rolled into one. And Christmas, except with a wallaby and not a jolly jiggly old man (much love to ya, Santa, you get it done!). Plus, wallabies are so much cuter than bunnies (and Santa, unless you're into wearing your jelly donuts). Not that bunnies are ugly, they're just cuter than bunnies. Bunnies rank pretty high on the cute scale, though, don't get me wrong. Now Santa on the other hand...I'm not attracted to him.

12:59 AM  
Blogger Frances said...

Yep, another New Zealander here who celebrated Waitangi Day today. (It's basically our national holiday, some people call it New Zealand Day).

But it's also Bob Marley's birthday! And every Waitangi Day here in Christchurch we go to a big reggae concert on the beach for a joint celebration. (yes, I put "joint" in there on purpose).

5:37 AM  
Blogger Rhodent said...

Tell Theomorph that his boss has evidently never had the pleasure of cohabitating with a Siamese cat. It gives a special insight into the Bucky outlook. Either that or she has no sense of humor and is an idiot. Cheers.

1:20 PM  
Blogger Rhodent said...

Where DID you eat last night? Can I come next time???

1:30 PM  
Blogger L said...

went to Chateau France in St. Petersburg... mmmmmm!

The restaurant's in a large pink Victorian house filled with accented waiters.

11:26 PM  

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