No - it's nothing to do with binary arithmetic. At the international airport in Sydney yesterday (11 November), to my great surprise most people stood ("lest we forget") to honour the memory of our fallen soldiers at 11 a.m. It was announced over the broadcast system and though it seemed to take many people by surprise, even people wheeling their trollies out of the baggage and customs clearance area stopped and bowed their heads. The elderly Chinese man sitting opposite to me clearly did not know what it was all about but after some hesitation he also stood up. I seemed, however, to be the only person wearing a poppy.
At 11.11 a.m. on 11 November, Switzerland begins the Fasching carnival and Guggenmusik bands play in the streets of Zurich. The first mad costumes appear, heralding the Fasnacht festivities which take place in February, related I believe to Shrove Tuesday in the religious calendar. I rather gather from the meagre coverage in the local Zurich press this year (where one would expect to find pictures of bands in the streets) that people in general in Zurich would not have been aware that this was taking place or would not be that interested. Is it getting harder to interest young people in playing Guggenmusik in public and also to keep up the traditions unless there is serious sponsorship, even in Switzerland? I know there is a Guggenmusik band in New Zealand from having worked with Helena from New Zealand whose parents play in the band ... and perhaps it will be up to them to keep the tradition going after Switzerland has so many citizens who started out as immigrants from other countries that the institutional memory will be gone. On the basis of what I have read, however, I guess this is a very long time away.
So 11 November was generally a day of remembrance of spirit and spirits in Switzerland and Australia marked by little media coverage. Though BBC gaffes, the US CIA chief resignation following an affair (must be more to this story), bush fires, a mid-air explosion on an international flight out of Sydney and women going missing in Melbourne are all much more likely to be covered in Australia anyway than an annual uneventful ceremony. And Roger Federer paying tennis naturally supersedes just about anything in the Swiss press. More about Roger.
At 11.11 a.m. on 11 November, Switzerland begins the Fasching carnival and Guggenmusik bands play in the streets of Zurich. The first mad costumes appear, heralding the Fasnacht festivities which take place in February, related I believe to Shrove Tuesday in the religious calendar. I rather gather from the meagre coverage in the local Zurich press this year (where one would expect to find pictures of bands in the streets) that people in general in Zurich would not have been aware that this was taking place or would not be that interested. Is it getting harder to interest young people in playing Guggenmusik in public and also to keep up the traditions unless there is serious sponsorship, even in Switzerland? I know there is a Guggenmusik band in New Zealand from having worked with Helena from New Zealand whose parents play in the band ... and perhaps it will be up to them to keep the tradition going after Switzerland has so many citizens who started out as immigrants from other countries that the institutional memory will be gone. On the basis of what I have read, however, I guess this is a very long time away.
So 11 November was generally a day of remembrance of spirit and spirits in Switzerland and Australia marked by little media coverage. Though BBC gaffes, the US CIA chief resignation following an affair (must be more to this story), bush fires, a mid-air explosion on an international flight out of Sydney and women going missing in Melbourne are all much more likely to be covered in Australia anyway than an annual uneventful ceremony. And Roger Federer paying tennis naturally supersedes just about anything in the Swiss press. More about Roger.
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