The Happy Thread

[Pseudonym]

So you don't celebrate Christmas with displays of (fake) snow covered trees I take it?

Christmas decorations in Australia are an odd mix of Winter Solstice (snowflakes etc) and generic (tinsel and baubles). Generally speaking, people don't go for the snow.

The weirdest, though, is the music. The early 20th century Tin Pan Alley secular Christmas music is pretty much ignored here. Traditional carols sometimes mention the Winter, which is always a bit weird. However, there are also a bunch of Australian carols from the same era which talk about brolgas and drovers a lot and Christmas a little. I wrote a parody of these carols once, but you wouldn't get it.

What does Santa wear, flip flops, a bathing suit (hopefully not a speedo!), and a straw hat?

He wears the usual attire, usually without gloves. Costumes tend to be made of a breathable material in practice.

Other effects of the Southern Hemisphere arrangements that you might not think of is that the entire calendar is shifted around. The Christmas holiday season is also the Summer holiday season and harvest season, so the school year and the calendar year coincide, which we find very convenient. However, this in turn has the effect of moving the financial year out of phase by six months.

[whoosanightowl]

Pseudonym wrote:
"Other effects of the Southern Hemisphere arrangements that you might not think of is that the entire calendar is shifted around. The Christmas holiday season is also the Summer holiday season and harvest season, so the school year and the calendar year coincide, which we find very convenient. However, this in turn has the effect of moving the financial year out of phase by six months."

Very interesting! I never really thought about the calendar thing, but now that you mention it...
So what do you celebrate during your winter season, and what kind of weather/temperatures (in fahrenheit) do you get?

[Pseudonym]

So what do you celebrate during your winter season, [...]

Football, I guess. Or did you mean me personally?

[...] and what kind of weather/temperatures (in fahrenheit) do you get?

It depends on where you live; some of Australia is in the tropics.

Melbourne weather seems mild to an outsider. It never gets below freezing, and it never snows. It regularly gets down to about 5C (~40F) overnight and up to the low teens (~50-55F) during the day in Winter. At the other end, you get a few days above 40C (~105F) over Summer, but it's almost never humid at the same time. We do get a fair bit of rain, at least when we're not in a drought.

The catch is that Melbourne weather is extremely volatile. The Crowded House song Four Seasons in One Day is about Melbourne, and it's not an exaggeration. On any given day, you can never really be sure if you're going to need an umbrella, a sun hat or both. And while 50F doesn't sound that cold, it feels cold if it was 80F an hour ago.

[whoosanightowl]

So what do you celebrate during your winter season

Pseudonym wrote: "Football, I guess. Or did you mean me personally?"

Ha, just like we do during our winters! No, I meant like in a holiday/day off of work/parade kind of way. Our main seasonal holiday's are Independance Day in the summer, Thanksgiving in the fall, Christmas in the winter and Easter in the spring

"Melbourne weather seems mild to an outsider. It never gets below freezing, and it never snows. It regularly gets down to about 5C (~40F) overnight and up to the low teens (~50-55F) during the day in Winter. At the other end, you get a few days above 40C (~105F) over Summer, but it's almost never humid at the same time. We do get a fair bit of rain, at least when we're not in a drought.

The catch is that Melbourne weather is extremely volatile. The Crowded House song Four Seasons in One Day is about Melbourne, and it's not an exaggeration. On any given day, you can never really be sure if you're going to need an umbrella, a sun hat or both. And while 50F doesn't sound that cold, it feels cold if it was 80F an hour ago.[/quote]
From what I've heard, Arizona sounds a lot like Melbourne, possibly except for the 4 seasons in a day. However we have that in MI in the spring and fall. The drop in temp can be dramatic, going from shorts and t-shirts to pants and jackets in the same day, and many times rain and or strong winds are in there too. We call it cold and flu season!

[Pseudonym]

Ha, just like we do during our winters! No, I meant like in a holiday/day off of work/parade kind of way. Our main seasonal holiday's are Independance Day in the summer, Thanksgiving in the fall, Christmas in the winter and Easter in the spring

The main parade days in Australia are Australia Day in the Summer (rough equivalent of Independence Day) and Anzac Day (rough equivalent of Veteran's Day) in the Spring, which is around the same time as Easter. There is a holiday on Queen's Birthday (early Winter) but not much happens then.

As for Spring, there is a notable lack of holidays around then, which is a shame, because we could really do with one. Some states have Labor Day in October. Where I live has a holiday on the same day as the Melbourne Cup, called Cup Day. Having a holiday for a sporting event is unusual as these things go, but it's actually a coincidence. It used to be just a general holiday where you were encouraged to go on picnics, and the horse race was held on that day.

We have no equivalent of Thanksgiving. Many expatriate Americans who wish to celebrate their multicultural festivals have come up with the plan of swapping Thanksgiving and Independence Day, given that it makes more sense to eat hot turkey in the middle of Winter and have a barbecue in late Spring.

From what I've heard, Arizona sounds a lot like Melbourne, possibly except for the 4 seasons in a day.

My wife lived in Arizona for a while. She reports that Arizona has dramatic temperature changes, but they're steady throughout the year. She also reports that she always thought that Melburnians complained about their weather, but after experiencing it for over a decade, she understands now.

[whoosanightowl]

Oh you definitely need more holidays with parades (and time off from work)! The idea for the holiday swap sounds like a good one since it makes more sense. I guess Superbowl Sunday would be considered a sporting holiday by many here with all the festivities and parades. It's nice because it's something to look forward to during our long, cold northern winters. That's funny about your wife, you never really know a place until you live there. How does she like it there now? Does she ever wish she lived back in the USA?

[Kiwi]

Today, entirely by accident, I learned that one of my poems was used in the national English exam. When your work is being studied by an entire nation of stressed out 15 year olds all on the same day you've made it, I reckon!

[whoosanightowl]

Congrats!!

[Pseudonym]

Today, entirely by accident, I learned that one of my poems was used in the national English exam. When your work is being studied by an entire nation of stressed out 15 year olds all on the same day you've made it, I reckon!

Congratulations! You've just made 60,000 enemies. Quite a day's work.

So... care to share the poem with us? It's okay if the answer is "no".

I've only ever had a couple of short poems published on a poster stuck in a commuter train.

[Rian]

That is wonderful, Kiwi!!!! Congrats!!!!

(need I inquire if you were paid for it? )

[Kiwi]

I've only ever had a couple of short poems published on a poster stuck in a commuter train.

I'd be stoked to have a poem on a train.

Actually, I'd be stoked to have a train. There are no commuter trains in my city.

They didn't pay me for the use of my poem. A conveniently written government Act states that they can use my poem for education without payment. That's fine, I'm just happy to have the audience, reluctant and sweaty as they may have all been at the time.

[marcuspnw]

Happiness is a cupboard full of Organic Double IPA home brewed by yours truly. Just had the first batch and it is excellent, really hoppy and what a kick! Next up, some English bitter. This is going to be one joyous Easter!!

[Tim-the-Hermit]

That sounds more enticing than the usual fizzy lager, Marcus!

[Moonwood the Hare]

English bitter is dying. I went to our local folk club and it had moved to a poncy hotel because the pub (hundreds of years old) had shut. I went to the bar and it was all largers and ciders (not real ciders or German largers the modern tasteless versions) What bitter do you have? I asked. Tetley's, they said. Offering a Lancastrian Tetley's is bad enough but it turned out to be Tetley''s extra cold which means some tastless concoction made with some kind of nitro implant and frozen to death. A few years ago I realised that Boddington's - made at Manchester's finest brewery near the Strangeways Hotel (it's not a hotel by the way it's a prison famous for its riots) - had decided that their cask ale had better taste like their now famous real ale in a can and that was being made in extra cold. No one will ever taste Boddington's as it was again. One sip and I would be 17 again, back in the White Horse . . . sorry. There is some good beer around but . . . well it breathes sinister new meanings into the old saying John Barleycoen is dead.

[Rian]

I think I read somewhere that Guinness is dying out, too - is that true?

I'm happy because I made a great cake for my middle son's bday party this weekend - it's a traditional family recipe, and my Mom had always made it, but since we moved to Arizona (and away from all my California relatives) I had resorted to buying bday cakes. I love to make pastries, but I've never been into making cakes. But I decided to give it a go, and it came out really, REALLY well! And my kids were really happy to have that tradition back. And it was a lot less expensive, too!

It's a Texas Sheet Cake - anyone heard of it?