Comments on: Training for the Olimpicks http://www.sumangali.org/training-for-the-olimpicks/ In The Spirit Of Serendipity Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:05:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Sumangali Morhall http://www.sumangali.org/training-for-the-olimpicks/#comment-160 Sumangali Morhall Tue, 15 May 2007 10:48:00 +0000 http://www.sumangali.org/blog/training-for-the-olimpicks/#comment-160 Since writing this post, I have discovered (as I suspected) that Japan's sporting customs are perhaps equal in eccentricity to Britain's.<br/><br/>Take “Baby-Cry Sumo” (<em>Konaki</em>) for example:<br/><br/>“sumo wrestlers each hold a baby, face each other and wait to see whose infant will cry first. The annual event takes place in temples and a priest assists by shouting and waving at the babies.”<br/><br/>It's a 400-year old custom based on the belief that “crying babies grow fast”. (Maybe the sooner to protect themselves against random people flailing about).<br/><br/>You can read more in <a HREF="http://travel.guardian.co.uk/article/2007/may/13/escape.japan" REL="nofollow" TITLE="View Konaki article at Guardian.co.uk">last Sunday's Observer</a> Since writing this post, I have discovered (as I suspected) that Japan’s sporting customs are perhaps equal in eccentricity to Britain’s.

Take “Baby-Cry Sumo” (Konaki) for example:

“sumo wrestlers each hold a baby, face each other and wait to see whose infant will cry first. The annual event takes place in temples and a priest assists by shouting and waving at the babies.”

It’s a 400-year old custom based on the belief that “crying babies grow fast”. (Maybe the sooner to protect themselves against random people flailing about).

You can read more in last Sunday’s Observer

]]> By: Sumangali Morhall http://www.sumangali.org/training-for-the-olimpicks/#comment-159 Sumangali Morhall Sun, 13 May 2007 11:40:00 +0000 http://www.sumangali.org/blog/training-for-the-olimpicks/#comment-159 Thanks Alf. I haven't got round to reading <em>My Family and Other Animals</em> but have always meant to. Since half my household is canine the title has always appealed :-)<br/><br/>Hello, Camille. As far as I can make out, the Canadian sense of humour is somewhat similar to the British (for better or worse). I too am far from tempted to take up worm charming, but it's reassuring to know that the my fellow country folk are not taking themselves too seriously... some of them at least... somewhere in some “Secret Field”... Thanks Alf. I haven’t got round to reading My Family and Other Animals but have always meant to. Since half my household is canine the title has always appealed :-)

Hello, Camille. As far as I can make out, the Canadian sense of humour is somewhat similar to the British (for better or worse). I too am far from tempted to take up worm charming, but it’s reassuring to know that the my fellow country folk are not taking themselves too seriously… some of them at least… somewhere in some “Secret Field”…

]]> By: S. Camille Crawford http://www.sumangali.org/training-for-the-olimpicks/#comment-158 S. Camille Crawford Sun, 13 May 2007 11:03:00 +0000 http://www.sumangali.org/blog/training-for-the-olimpicks/#comment-158 Well it sounds like a hoot to be British (or English) if you prefer. Us Canadians pale in colour compared to the wide array of eccentric activities available for entertaining oneself in the UK!<br/><br/>Bravo! A fun read. Makes me wish I was from there. Not that worm charming actually sounds like something I'd do, it's just the concept I adore!<br/><br/>Camille Well it sounds like a hoot to be British (or English) if you prefer. Us Canadians pale in colour compared to the wide array of eccentric activities available for entertaining oneself in the UK!

Bravo! A fun read. Makes me wish I was from there. Not that worm charming actually sounds like something I’d do, it’s just the concept I adore!

Camille

]]> By: Alf http://www.sumangali.org/training-for-the-olimpicks/#comment-157 Alf Sun, 13 May 2007 06:49:00 +0000 http://www.sumangali.org/blog/training-for-the-olimpicks/#comment-157 I find the finest portrait of English eccentricity in <i>My Family and Other Animals</i> by Gerald Durrell. Utterly charming.<br/><br/>Let's remember Bernard from <b>Yes Minister</b>. "This is one of those irregular verbs: I have an open mind, you are an eccentric, he is round the twist." I find the finest portrait of English eccentricity in My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. Utterly charming.

Let’s remember Bernard from Yes Minister. “This is one of those irregular verbs: I have an open mind, you are an eccentric, he is round the twist.”

]]> By: Sumangali Morhall http://www.sumangali.org/training-for-the-olimpicks/#comment-156 Sumangali Morhall Fri, 11 May 2007 13:01:00 +0000 http://www.sumangali.org/blog/training-for-the-olimpicks/#comment-156 Sorry to break this to you, John, but the UK's <a HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Man_and_His_Dog" REL="nofollow" TITLE="One Man And His Dog at wikipedia.org">One Man and His Dog</a> started in '76 and gained a peak audience of over 8 million. Good luck with your quest! :-) Sorry to break this to you, John, but the UK’s One Man and His Dog started in ‘76 and gained a peak audience of over 8 million. Good luck with your quest! :-)

]]> By: John http://www.sumangali.org/training-for-the-olimpicks/#comment-155 John Fri, 11 May 2007 10:55:00 +0000 http://www.sumangali.org/blog/training-for-the-olimpicks/#comment-155 Nice post Sumangali—nice also in the quaint, endearing way that is uniquely English.<br/><br/>Raised as I was on a diet of English television and cultural eccentricity—Monty Python, Blackadder, Dr Who, Bergerac, The Two Ronnies, Taggert (Scottish really but who's counting) cricket, the Queen on the back of our coins, rhyming slang, and even that ultimate eccentric, English past-time—watching Coronation Street—all of which are claimed here in New Zealand as almost our very own—certainly not as foreign anyway.<br/><br/>So I was planning an extended dissertation on New Zealand eccentricity, and have even started one on my own <a HREF="http://sensitivitytothings.com/" REL="nofollow">blog</a>, when I realised that almost everything that is wacky about New Zealand comes from Britain!<br/><br/>Take Sheep Dog Trialling, which I was going to cite as a prime example of NZ eccentricity—confounded before even out of the gates; it was invented in England as a competitive sport in the 1870s.<br/><br/>Although we may be the only country in the world where farmers competing to herd sheep into pens with their sheep dogs ("Get in behind Bruce!") was made into a highly rating, prime time television show... Nice post Sumangali—nice also in the quaint, endearing way that is uniquely English.

Raised as I was on a diet of English television and cultural eccentricity—Monty Python, Blackadder, Dr Who, Bergerac, The Two Ronnies, Taggert (Scottish really but who’s counting) cricket, the Queen on the back of our coins, rhyming slang, and even that ultimate eccentric, English past-time—watching Coronation Street—all of which are claimed here in New Zealand as almost our very own—certainly not as foreign anyway.

So I was planning an extended dissertation on New Zealand eccentricity, and have even started one on my own blog, when I realised that almost everything that is wacky about New Zealand comes from Britain!

Take Sheep Dog Trialling, which I was going to cite as a prime example of NZ eccentricity—confounded before even out of the gates; it was invented in England as a competitive sport in the 1870s.

Although we may be the only country in the world where farmers competing to herd sheep into pens with their sheep dogs (”Get in behind Bruce!”) was made into a highly rating, prime time television show…

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