Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November!

This is the night to have fireworks and bonfires "to commemorate the failure, in the year 1605, of an attempt to assassinate the king and Parliament." Some of these celebrations even have burning effigies of the most famous perpetrator, Guy Fawkes. According to our British cultural lady in the US, celebrating a failed terrorism plot is the only excuse the British have come up with for a good firework show.

And you know how people love fireworks! Fireworks are legal here and they even sell them at the grocery store this time of year. While buying our weekly foodstuff, we heard an announcement that you can only buy fireworks AFTER you buy your groceries. Good thing... you know how people get the itch to set them off as soon as they get them in their sweaty hands :)

From what I understand, Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated a little differently in York. We had sporadic fireworks shooting out of people's backyards Saturday and Sunday night, but you won't see any large scale celebrations or burning effigies. You see, Guy Fawkes was born and raised here so they're not too keen on burning him at the stake every year.


There's a plaque on this church whose last line proclaims that, among other things, "Guy Fawkes was baptized here on 16th April 1570."



So instead of watching a doll burn, we'll celebrate the day by watching V for Vendetta and consider the possibility that he was a hero, not a villain. As Hollywood so eloquently states...

Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.