h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

And Theresa May has appeared:

http://twitter.com/JoRickhards/status/926900933497360384

I can't see the full context of this one - maybe it will become apparent later.

That one where Kim's strapped to a rocket - Trump's strapped to the other side:

http://twitter.com/Rad_T/status/926908083389063169

And the third effigy this year of Trump and Kim together (although I'm not sure why Trump has a dark beard in this - am I missing something?

http://twitter.com/russellpilfold/status/926911647008067584

Is it some sort of straight-jacket?

SO I think that's it for this year:

1. Trump and Kim as babies
2. Trump and Kim strapped to a rocket
3. Trump as insane and Kim dangling from a rocket
4. Kim as King Kong
5. Theresa May as Britannia, pointing a gun at the ballot box (I think):

http://twitter.com/Rad_T/status/926911696366723072

Winner this year is Bluebottle, for correctly identifying that Trump would be tweeting in one effigy.

wall done >BB>

I won? Fun quiz.

<BB<

My pick of Harvey Weinstein went to Edinbridge instead (sans casting couch but wearing a robe).

http://metro.co.uk/2017/11/04/brits-burn-giant-effigies-of-harvey-weinstein-and-donald-trump-on-bonfire-night-7054054/

Bad luck!

Lewes is the hub of activity, but many other Sussex towns have parades. I’m impressed by the scale of that Weinstein effigy.

I am really impressed by these parades, and I have a question:

How far back does the custom of carrying burning crosses go?

See, what I'm thinking is: if the custom goes back before 1866, we could validate a charge of 'cultural appropriation' against the KKK, and wouldn't that make 'em spit?

The burning crosses commemorate the Protestant Martyrs, burned at the stake 1555-1557

I suspect it's a more recent addition to the celebrations, but it has no link whatsoever to the KKK. This site has some information on the history and significance of burning crosses:

http://timeline.com/why-does-the-ku-klux-klan-burn-crosses-they-got-the-idea-from-a-movie-75a70f7ab135

Indeed, the KKK would be a very valid target for Lewes - their effigies are generally divisive figures. As the website below says: "All a bonfire boye or belle wants is peace, tolerance, celebration, freedom of choice, thought and remembrance of those that sacrificed their lives for our freedom, and remembering those that died for us."

This page has some history of the Lewes event:

http://www.lewesbonfirecelebrations.com/the-lewes-bonfire-celebrations/

So a timeline would be:

1555-1557: Seventeen Protestant martyrs burned at the stake in Lewes

1605: Guy Fawkes/Gunpowder Plot

1711: Bonfire Night celebrations recorded, including burning of pope effigies

1795 - First recorded celebrations in Lewes

1847 - Bonfire riots in Lewes

1853 - Bonfire Societies formed

1901 - Martyrs memorial built


So it would appear the Lewes cross burning is very much a 20th-Century addition.

Makes sense! Thanks for the explanation.

Just the other day, one of the pastors at the Baptist church mentioned reading Foxe's Book of Martyrs in a talk. I always kind of groan when they do that, as I did when I found the tome on my dad's bookshelf.

I really don't want them to start giving the people over in the Immaculate Conception parking lot funny looks...they're just the other side of the McDonald's. I sort of feel that they should let the 16th Century go. That was in another country, and besides...

The KKK, however, should be mocked whenever possible. The whole mess is DW Griffith's fault. Which, I think, is why the Coen Brothers made this brilliant scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj4J7_aRsrE

Note the 'words': O-hi-o, eeny, meeny, miny, mo...

I certainly do not want to get political here, and I have no special interest in The KKK, or their beliefs.
I heard many years ago that their custom of burning (or lighting) a cross went straight back to their Celtic origins and Scot's customs. That is why the last word in their name is Klan (a different spelling of clan). The burning of a cross was said to be a signal of a meeting for all the local cans for an uprising.

I doubt that any of the modern yahoos understand this. I thought you might find this an interesting addition to the thread. Just a bit of the history I picked up along the way

F S

The thing people forget (but the site got right) is that first Ku Klux Klan was a short-lived terrorist movement during Reconstruction. It died out as the war receded and civilisation returned. It would have stayed gone, too, if it hadn't been for that ing movie. What got started during World War I had no real connection to the original KKK.

If you're interested, you might check out 'A History of Tennessee from 1663 to 1911, for use in the schools', which is an extremely funny book in places.

http://archive.org/stream/historyoftenness02mcge#page/228/mode/1up/search/klan

The author, one Gentry McGee, is wildly opinionated - I have no idea if anybody ever had the temerity to use this screed in a school, but weirder things have happened.

I don't know how to say this, but, well, I own that film on VHS. I was young and studying the History of Film as part of my history degree, and we did the standard 'Birth of a Nation'/'Battleship Potemkin' combination, followed by German Expressionism and 'Un Chien Andalou'.

<BB<

VHS. How quaint.

I tried to watch the film, got almost halfway through. I must admit that, unlike Woodrow Wilson, I did not weep for the Lost Cause. Instead, I fell asleep.