Remembrance Day

11 November - Slept in for the first time in a while before heading out to have the first truly great pancakes since my arrival in this city. Blueberry filled with proper maple syrup - i'm sure I could do better given the inclination but for a lazy brunch I couldn't ask for more.
Last night watched a dodgy movie called Devil's Rejects - an OTT naturalbornkillers styled movie about a bunch of mass murderers and the games they played. More disgusting than scary but it certainly passed the time.
Weather cleared up later but me and Rene headed into town to see a movie. Went to The Cactus Club, a well overpriced drinking hole staffed by incredibly beautiful young girls all wearing very nice but different black outfits. Unfortunately it took an age to be served, forever for the drinks to turn up, an eternity for her to replace my drink which our waitress got wrong and then an eon for the bill to arrive so we could pay it. Rene insisted on a pretty huge tip, which I thought was completely unwarranted considering what we got but when in Rome ... you’ve got to tip a lot regardless. The movie, A History of Violence, was superb. Were stuck in the front row so the screen took up our entire field of vision, annoying at first but really works after a while, the screen takes up your entire field of vision - great for effects i'd wager. Great story, OTT violence and death shots, great actors and graphic sexual encounters made it very enjoyable. For some reason I thought it was going to be a David Lynch film, but on realising i'd got my David's mixed up I was more reassured to find out it was Mr Cronenbourg, a far less pretentious autuer - I like David Lynch's movies sometimes but I also like to ride around all day in the freezing wet so I wouldn't take my taste for much.
Did read an interesting article in The Age (Melbourne paper) all about Remembrance Day celebrations - there were events all over town including people selling poppie flowers. Am I dreaming because as I recall we've never celebrated it at home - I don't think. As I recall we have Anzac day - not Remembrance Day - do we have both? Why can't I remember Remembrance Day in Australia and how come the first i've ever heard of it was when I arrived in Canadia? It's a pretty huge thing over here - everybody from couriers to politicians to TV hosts can be seen sporting a poppy flower on their lapel - do they do that at home? Dit a bike of a wiki on it and realised my error. Of course we celebrate rememberance day at home - every Nov 12 is observed and i've done lots of observing myself. The reason why I couldn't renconcile what I was seeing over here with what I remember from home is the scale of the celebration over here. It's a really BIG thing. It's a public holiday, which in australia it is not, which obviously explains a lot to its popularity throughout the general citizenry. Anything that gives the opportunity of not having to work for a WHOLE DAY is obviously going to be a bigger run through the public imagination than something which is generally only observed, by most people, for the two minutes that makes up the minute's silence. .