Holloa!

Well, in the US, it is the day after: the light at the end of the tunnel. In just a few months and W will be a bad memory. Someone at work whom I cannot recall ever having spoken to before said to me as he passed me in the corridor, “It looks like your country is having a Tony Blair moment.” Most of you know that Tony Blair was the prime minister before Gordan Brown, the current one. I have to say that I think of Clinton when I think of Blair, but I was too surprised that he knew I was an American to even ask what he meant by that. Anyway, you would think that ‘the election’ (as it is referred to) was here. Just minutes ago, I was paying for an avocado at a local shop and someone said to the shopkeeper as he came in “What do you think about the election?” He gave a friendly non-committal answer and then turned to me and quietly said, “It is one thing to win an election; it is another, to run a country.” Now I know I have never seen this man before. I have never set foot in this shop. So there you go.
Here, today is Guy Fawkes Day. We don’t get it off. Guy Fawkes Day (also called Bonfire Night) is celebrated with fireworks, sort of like our Fourth of July, except it has nothing to do with independence or national origins. This guy was caught trying to blow up Parliament (which most of you know is somewhat analogous to the US Congress) while the king was addressing it (which would be analogous to a joint session, like during the State of the Union).  Anyway, there is a verse that all Brits seem to know:

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I can think of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up the King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below
To prove old England's overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

And fireworks going off around me as I write...  Holloa!