(OT) Bizarre goings on in St Andrews

[John Walton]

No: HPFGUIDX 5924

Hi all,

This has almost nothing to do with HP, but I thought I'd share because it's
amusing.

This weekend in St Andrews was "Raisin Weekend". This hallowed tradition
dates back to the time when first years (freshers) would give their "senior
man" or "senior woman" (aka the person who showed them round the university
and helped them settle in) a delightful bag of raisins. This was obviously a
necessary item back in the mists of time. The senior man would write out a
Latin receipt on some unwieldy item (a "Raisin Receipt") which the fresher
would carry around for the rest of the day. Any senior man/woman could also
make any fresher sing the Gaudeamus (St Andrews' student song) before noon.

Nowadays, however, students have a different way of using the humble grape,
and so the pound of raisins is usually about 750ml, liquid and contained in
a green bottle. "Academic Families" have also replaced the senior man/woman,
so you now have mothers and fathers. Another recent innovation is the mass
shaving foam fight in the main Quad, as well as costumes for the academic
children. (Did I mention that academic incest is verboten? Well, verboten
but widely practiced...)

Anyway, to bring this back on topic, I saw an entire academic family dressed
as the characters from HP today -- down to Harry's scar and glasses,
carrying Hedwig and a broomstick; Hermione with bushy bouffant hair, a
little light reading (several cardboard books) and Crookshanks; Ron with
sprayed ginger hair, a stuffed rat; and the academic parents as Dumbledore
and McGonagall. It was absolutely brilliant! Of course, the children headed
off for the foam fight and ended up absolutely covered, which rather wrecked
the costumes. I think someone took a picture of them, so I'll forward it
when developed.

Oh, and this year's most amusing Raisin Reciepts:

* A small boat
* A sofa
* A slide projector
* A fridge
* A drunk girl
* A bathtub
* A small car
* The sign from Tesco (supermarket)

Well, there we are. Hope that gave everyone a laugh.

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John "there really is a monster!" Walton     john at walton.to    ICQ: 96203920

"Families is when wings take dream." --George W. Bush

Don't blame me -- I voted for Gore.
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