Jump to content

Thanksgiving..


NYCat

Recommended Posts

Here's one from the little-known "Brush that chip off your shoulder" festival . . .

 

man-and-group-practising-qigong-kowloon-

 

dd

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Before Alamy edits or removes this thread I want to thank you all for cheering me up after that depressing response to my post. I, of course, was expressing my gratitude to Alamy and to you guys and where else would I have done that if not on the forum? So thanks!

 

And here is a celebration from Africa.

 

masai-men-doing-a-welcome-dance-wearing-

 

C68T6E    Masai men doing a welcome dance.

 

Paulette

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You need't have explained, Master ManWay; your Anti-Americanism was obvious from your first sentence.

 

It was a bad idea to target Paulette, one of our nicest and most popular long-time forum members. All she said was "Happy Thanksgiving" to all. No one else of any nationality or cultural seemed to have found that offensive . . . except you. So you are looking for trouble, eh? You got it. I will be sending the screen shoot I just captured to Member Services, toot sweet. :)

 

Just curious, but what kind of name is ManWay? Some kind of macho-biker handle left over from an old AOL chatroom?  

 

We'll be needing a sincere apology to Paulette and all the Yanks and others in here. And no more rants against anyone, please.

 

And if we don't see you in April, have a great St. George's Day.

 

Edo

Hi Ed,

 

Thanks for your opinions.

 

ManWay just comes from my surname - Wayman - and is a play on words really - ManRay the renowned Surrealist/Dadaist fella.

 

I do object to being called 'Anti-American' however.

 

I am not, in any way, anti the peoples of USA. In fact I have helped and continue to help people in US government in regard to many human rights issues.

 

I accept that my post was, perhaps, upsetting to some but it was understood and accepted by many too.

 

What galls me is that my opinion is taken immediately by some as an attack on 'America' , by which I assume you mean USA.

 

The country was founded on a right to 'freedom of speech'. I'm sorry if my opinion about overt nationalism is misconstrued.

 

You say, "we'll be needing a sincere apology............ " . For whom do you speak Sir? Yourself? The Nation?

 

In the meantime, I wish you all the best. Perhaps we can keep the discussion forum limited to our business in photography - myself included.

 

Again, I apologise for anything that I may have posted, to anyone on the forum, that has been deemed offensive.

 

Best

 

Richard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

The country was founded on a right to 'freedom of speech'. I'm sorry if my opinion about overt nationalism is misconstrued.

 

You say, "we'll be needing a sincere apology............ " . For whom do you speak Sir? Yourself? The Nation?

 

In the meantime, I wish you all the best. Perhaps we can keep the discussion forum limited to our business in photography - myself included.

 

Again, I apologise for anything that I may have posted, to anyone on the forum, that has been deemed offensive.

 

Best

 

Richard

 

 

Honestly, as an American, I am very confused by your comments and response.

 

The country was not founded on a right to 'freedom of speech' and I don't see Thanksgiving as a 'nationalistic' holiday at all.

 

You see, a few pilgrims who wanted to exercise their right to freedom of religion came over on a boat called the Mayflower.  They established themselves on the continent and, at the first Thanksgiving, they gave thanks for the prior year's harvest of food.  Thanksgiving initially started as a harvest festival of sorts.

 

Today, since the majority of Americans are no longer farmers celebrating a harvest, we celebrate it as a time to give thanks for what we have in terms of family, friends, successes, and failures.  Nothing more and nothing less.

 

I don't see the 'nationalistic' connection.  The term 'nationalistic' implies a sense of arrogance toward other countries.  If anything, this is a time of humbling, a time to reflect on what we have and to give thanks for it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

The country was founded on a right to 'freedom of speech'. I'm sorry if my opinion about overt nationalism is misconstrued.

 

You say, "we'll be needing a sincere apology............ " . For whom do you speak Sir? Yourself? The Nation?

 

In the meantime, I wish you all the best. Perhaps we can keep the discussion forum limited to our business in photography - myself included.

 

Again, I apologise for anything that I may have posted, to anyone on the forum, that has been deemed offensive.

 

Best

 

Richard

 

 

Honestly, as an American, I am very confused by your comments and response.

 

The country was not founded on a right to 'freedom of speech' and I don't see Thanksgiving as a 'nationalistic' holiday at all.

 

You see, a few pilgrims who wanted to exercise their right to freedom of religion came over on a boat called the Mayflower.  They established themselves on the continent and, at the first Thanksgiving, they gave thanks for the prior year's harvest of food.  Thanksgiving initially started as a harvest festival of sorts.

 

Today, since the majority of Americans are no longer farmers celebrating a harvest, we celebrate it as a time to give thanks for what we have in terms of family, friends, successes, and failures.  Nothing more and nothing less.

 

I don't see the 'nationalistic' connection.  The term 'nationalistic' implies a sense of arrogance toward other countries.  If anything, this is a time of humbling, a time to reflect on what we have and to give thanks for it.

 

 

Glad you posted this. It was what I have been thinking all along. I would have posted something along these lines except I wasn't sure if it was correct (not being American) without doing some further research. Independence Day would be veering towards nationalistic I guess. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, Ed and MDM, your knowledge of the first Thanksgiving and the reasons for it are correct. And I'll add that it happen in the fall of 1621, long before there was a US of A. 

 

And then there's Canadian Thanksgiving -- What! You mean no one noticed? -- that takes place in October. I guess we borrowed it from you guys. It's not nearly as big a holiday here as it is in the US. Plus, as you know, Canadians are too nice to be nationalistic at any time of the year, except of course when it comes to hockey. I'm not a big fan of the game myself, which I suppose amounts to heresy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let's not forget my son lives in Montreal, John, and I now have two Québécois grandkids. On the other hand, I've been reading about the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, not our nations' friendliest times. (No, I'm not referring to Napoleon's war.) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most Europeans (even North Americans) who have been to school or at least have been to a few movies know about Waterloo, if not the exact date.

 

I bet I could stop 50 people on the street tomorrow and ask them about the American War of 1812 and they would not know who was involved.

 

Then President James Madison, without a standing army, just some rag-tailed irregulars, declared war on England. Most of the fighting took place around the Canadian border and involved a lot of Native Americans, most of them fighting for the English. The most interesting thing that happened was that the English burned down the new half-built city of Washington. President Madison got away early. His wife, Dolly Madison, made of sterner stuff, did not leave the White House until enemy troops were in the streets . . . and she insisted on bring with her a large oil painting of George Washington.

 

Now you may well have heard the song, "The Battle of New Orleans"  In 1814 we took a little trip . . .

 

It was Napoleon's war that saved us, because the English had to turn their attention to that. Napoleon had entered Russia in 1812. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, Napoleon entered Russia in June of 1812, a few weeks after the War of 1812 I've been describing had began. In fact the American-English war was ended by the Treaty of Ghent, your home town, no? The truly forgotten war.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When we consider the importance of The Napoleonic Wars, it's understandable that our silly business has been almost forgotten by history. 

 

And without Bonaparte's Russian adventure we wouldn't have the word "bistro" (bistrot), in French, a Russian slang word for fast food.  ;)

 

I'm gonna get off this topic now, before I start The War of 2014. Always nice talking to you, Philippe.

 

Ciao, Edo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most Europeans (even North Americans) who have been to school or at least have been to a few movies know about Waterloo, if not the exact date.

 

I bet I could stop 50 people on the street tomorrow and ask them about the American War of 1812 and they would not know who was involved.

 

Then President James Madison, without a standing army, just some rag-tailed irregulars, declared war on England. Most of the fighting took place around the Canadian border and involved a lot of Native Americans, most of them fighting for the English. The most interesting thing that happened was that the English burned down the new half-built city of Washington. President Madison got away early. His wife, Dolly Madison, made of sterner stuff, did not leave the White House until enemy troops were in the streets . . . and she insisted on bring with her a large oil painting of George Washington.

 

Now you may well have heard the song, "The Battle of New Orleans"  In 1814 we took a little trip . . .

 

It was Napoleon's war that saved us, because the English had to turn their attention to that. Napoleon had entered Russia in 1812. 

 

We won by the way. B)

 

Actually, Canada didn't officially exist until Confederation in 1867. So it was those pesky Redcoats again...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, John, the Canadians mostly kicked our butts. The two saddest events were that the great Shawnee chief, Tecumseh, was killed. And many English soldiers were killed at the Battle of New Orleans, which took place after the war was officially over.

 

Basta!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes Ed the Canadian's burned Washington, and I never get tired of reminding my American cousins of that fact.

 

I retaliation the USA government did an ethic cleansing of my USA/Dutch ancestors who had a farm in Harlem on the isle of Manhattan, and were still perceived to be loyal to King George.

 

Still trying to get reparations. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes Ed the Canadian's burned Washington, and I never get tired of reminding my American cousins of that fact.

 

I retaliation the USA government did an ethic cleansing of my USA/Dutch ancestors who had a farm in Harlem on the isle of Manhattan, and were still perceived to be loyal to King George.

 

Still trying to get reparations. :P

 

If we (Homo sapiens) hadn't decided to draw imaginary lines all over the planet, we wouldn't have gotten into all this trouble. Unfortunately, it's a bit late to turn back now. Guess we'll just have to keep on trying to make the best of it.

 

I like to remind myself that this is how our planet really looks:

 

giant-earth-globe-in-the-atrium-of-the-v

Link to comment
Share on other sites

General Robert Ross led 3,400 British infantry troops into Maryland and Washington and burned the city and the White House in August of 1814. No Canadians were involved. And in fact there were no Canadians as such until 1867.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Yes Ed the Canadian's burned Washington, and I never get tired of reminding my American cousins of that fact.

 

I retaliation the USA government did an ethic cleansing of my USA/Dutch ancestors who had a farm in Harlem on the isle of Manhattan, and were still perceived to be loyal to King George.

 

Still trying to get reparations. :P

 

If we (Homo sapiens) hadn't decided to draw imaginary lines all over the planet, we wouldn't have gotten into all this trouble. Unfortunately, it's a bit late to turn back now. Guess we'll just have to keep on trying to make the best of it.

 

I like to remind myself that this is how our planet really looks:

 

giant-earth-globe-in-the-atrium-of-the-v

 

 

Really looks NOW one should add. It may look fairly stable but it's all in a state of flux. Give it a few hundred years and there may be no ice caps. Give it a few thousand and Homo Sapiens may be a distant memory (of course that would probably mean there are no other life forms left capable of memory). Give it several million years and the continents will have moved noticeably (that big bend in the Andes may not be there any more). It's only 60 million years or so since the north Atlantic Ocean came into existence.

 

Happy Dec 3rd 2014 everybody. We should enjoy it while we can. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.