General Discussion Thread

[Helia]

It's funny how those sneak up unexpectedly. :Va

Except when you really, really need a day off, but the public holiday falls on a Saturday...

[Mélusine]

Except when you really, really need a day off, but the public holiday falls on a Saturday...

In may, two of them were on Sunday here.

[Helia]

In may, two of them were on Sunday here.

In some countries they give a substitute day when public holiday falls on weekend. But not here.
(this Saturday is the Big National Holiday with the fireworks and stuff)
*grumbles*

[Solokov]

On a completely different note, I'm apparently incapable of watching men's sports without reading some sort of innuendo into the commentary.

Intentional or not there is a lot of innuendo in sports commentary.

In some countries they give a substitute day when public holiday falls on weekend. But not here.
(this Saturday is the Big National Holiday with the fireworks and stuff)
*grumbles*

Mmmmmmmmm.... fireworks, glorious fireworks.

[urbicande]

In some countries they give a substitute day when public holiday falls on weekend. But not here.
(this Saturday is the Big National Holiday with the fireworks and stuff)
*grumbles*

It scares the trolls.

[Kiraly]

In some countries they give a substitute day when public holiday falls on weekend. But not here.
(this Saturday is the Big National Holiday with the fireworks and stuff)
*grumbles*

It's odd to me that your public holidays fall on different days of the week, because almost all of ours fall on the same weekday but different dates? So like Memorial Day is always the last Monday of May, Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November, etc. (Independence Day is the one big exception that I can think of among public holidays, it's always on July 4th.)

[Helia]

It's odd to me that your public holidays fall on different days of the week, because almost all of ours fall on the same weekday but different dates? So like Memorial Day is always the last Monday of May, Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November, etc. (Independence Day is the one big exception that I can think of among public holidays, it's always on July 4th.)

Hmmm... except for Easter and Pentecost, all of our holidays - regardles whether they have religious or historic backgrounds - are tied to specific dates.

[Buteo]

It's odd to me that your public holidays fall on different days of the week, because almost all of ours fall on the same weekday but different dates? So like Memorial Day is always the last Monday of May, Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November, etc. (Independence Day is the one big exception that I can think of among public holidays, it's always on July 4th.)

I do not now recall when this pattern was introduced, but originally all our holidays were on specific dates. That inevitably meant that in some years, one or more holidays would fall on a weekend, and no additional day off from work or school occurred. (I recall great disappointment when that happened.) It was decided that this was undesirable, so the basic pattern of placing a holiday on the Monday nearest to the original date was implemented. Thus the current system.
I have always assumed that July 4th was made an exception because it falls in the Summer, when school is not in session anyway; besides, it was most special.

[Purple Wyrm]

It's odd to me that your public holidays fall on different days of the week, because almost all of ours fall on the same weekday but different dates? So like Memorial Day is always the last Monday of May, Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November, etc. (Independence Day is the one big exception that I can think of among public holidays, it's always on July 4th.)

In Australia we have a mix. Some are weekday based (like the first Monday in a month) while others are on specific dates (such as Australia Day and ANZAC Day). If one of those falls on a Saturday we get the Friday off, and if it falls on a Sunday we get the Monday off.

Easter often falls near ANZAC Day, and if the dates line up right you can theoretically get five days off in a row!

[Double H]

Hmm in Iceland we don't get an extra day off if a public holiday is on a weekend. 

[Juniper]

Whenever I'm in another country where I'm crap at the language and all of the ads on my laptop like on youtube and whatnot are in that language and I can't really understand what they're saying it makes me realize how bizarre advertisements are out of context. Anyway sometimes when these ads are happening I make up dialogue and little stories to go along with them to replace the actual dialogue that I can't understand 

[Purple Wyrm]

Today is World Orangutan day, and to celebrate Adelaide Zoo has released a single played by one of their orangutans

Adelaide Zoo's Sumatran orangutan Kluet releases jazz tune Give me a Klue

You can purchase it on iTunes if you like 

[Vafhudr]

Today is World Orangutan day, and to celebrate Adelaide Zoo has released a single played by one of their orangutans

Adelaide Zoo's Sumatran orangutan Kluet releases jazz tune Give me a Klue

You can purchase it on iTunes if you like 

Better than some experimental music that I have heard at university.

[Róisín]

That's great! I've heard worse in jazz clubs, yeah!

[Buteo]

Not too shabby at all - and this is from one who is not usually a great jazz fan.
The end, on a rising note, is like an invitation to continue the musical thought. I'll have to introduce this one to my husband, he hasn't done any composing for a while.