Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Ms Adventure’s in Nouveau Zedlandia

Those who know this is an antipodean blog may wonder why I, a right-side-upian, post here roughly once a year. Truth be told, I am an international observer sent here on a mission of discovery to learn and report back on the mysteries of upside-downia. This is why I am usually to be found in the pub, I am OBSERVING real people in their natural environment. Horizontally observing, but that doesn’t signify anything but being overcome by the weight of responsibility.

Anyhoo, I have a mystery to report! At this festive time of year, Kiwis not only celebrate Christmas, they also have their own native holiday, the Hucking of the Ewes. The main festivity is placing a ewe in a trebuchet and launching it for distance, or at least so I surmise from observed behavior as the actual event is apparently a closed affair. People share the joy by greeting each other with a hearty “huck ewe!” and a traditional hand gesture, either a salute with the single middle finger jauntily raised or with the middle and index raised, spread apart in a V. Occasionally people so greeting one another are so overcome with holiday spirit, they embrace each other ardently, often so much so that they fall to the ground locked in each others’ arms, rolling about madly with each attempting to outdo the other with cheerful wishes for the person and even the entire family of the other; a common claim is that one’s friend is so fine a hucksman as to be considered a “Mother Hucker,” high praise indeed as pregnant ewes are much heavier and thus harder to huck well or far.

To bring the holiday spirit to you, dear reader, here is a model trebuchet to build and here a small sheep pattern to make and then you can join the fun and huck yourselves, too!

17 comments:

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

May all have a hucky new year!
~

mikey said...

And if the net outcome is positive, it is, like this post, hucking brilliant!

ckc (not kc) said...

...I think they often follow the ewe hucking with a fudge-off

Substance McGravitas said...

Ah, hockey!

The bonds of the Commonwealth remain close and we have all forgotten the safe word.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

At this festive time of year, Kiwis not only celebrate Christmas, they also have their own native holiday, the Hucking of the Ewes.

Obviously a typo in the old accounts of the original, largely bachelor, settlers.

Hamish Mack said...

This post overlooks the very real and important contribution made to New Zild culture by Hanna Barbera cartoons.
Obviously, in those far off days, communications were not as lightning fast or accurate as in these lucky lucky times and kiwis were, how can we say it, uncomplicated.
Thus the completely justified, yet strange to us, adoption of Huckleberry Hound as a legitimate and factual representation of modern society.
In particular the episode "Wolly Jumpers" that concerned the hilarity that ensued when Huck was trying to get his friend Baa Baabera over the river to see her sweetheart.
The cultural and sociological isolation then imposed on NZ by the tyranny of distance cannot be overlooked in the promulgation of the "Hucking" but the continuance of the tradition into the modern day is harder to explain.
I blame Barak Obama

tigris said...

AK is a hucking genius so I am grateful for his insight.

tigris said...

Indeed, if you and Smut keep teaching me soon I will know huck-all!

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Maybe if tigrismus posted here, you could double your blog production?
~

mikey said...

That's as may be, but Betty Rubble is HOT!

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

"Model" trebuchet? Why would I need a smaller one too?

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

Why does their starship have wings and a vertical stabilizer? Was it perhaps designed by zombies?

Hey now. Why do you presume I would design a starship anachronistically?

But to answer your question:

"Finned for her Pleasure"

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

Alternatively, to store the romulan ale.

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

Let's pretend I posted those comments in the proper thread. It is, after all, Huckmas.

Smut Clyde said...

"Model" trebuchet? Why would I need a smaller one too?

To include in the maquette when showing clients all the features of the new building.

fish said...

I still don't understand why that gentleman needed wellingtons and a kilt to huck his sheep.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

The kilt is necessary because sheep can hear a zipper from a mile away.

I think I done stolded that joke from Billy Connolly.