So... a long time ago on the 17th of May, Norway managed to tell the King of Sweden what he could do with himself. I present to America... Syttende Mai. If Cinco de Mayo gets a person in trouble here is a wonderful opportunity to inappropriately appropriate a culture, get drunk, and eat meatballs in honor of the Swedish King's disappointment, all while dressed up like a bad Viking. A paper mache hat with horns beats a sombrero any day.
Meatballs might not beat a taco bowl but we're Norse, we don't like to enjoy our food.
So, 10 days to plan the party. Start on your Viking outfit now.
All the videos of the Norwegian National Anthem made the Lutheran hymns I grew up with sound like races to the finish but this little video of kids was sort of cute so I have posted it instead. (As a relative once declared in amazement: "In Norway, even the *children* speak Norwegian.") Better yet, you will hear the pronunciation of "Seventeen May" in Norwegian .... something like Soooten-de Mai... pretend to be the Swedish chef and you'll be close... but in Sweden. And who'd want to be there?
20 comments:
"Make America Vinland again!" - Leif Erikson
Happy Syttende Mai. Skoal.
Not sure I want to inappropriately appropriate a culture, get drunk, and eat meatballs in honor of the Swedish King's disappointment. In America it would called - Ikea day.
However, I do like the dressing up like bad Viking idea. Or Being a bad viking.
I suppose if you go to all that trouble, might as well get drunk too.
Margaritas?
Could always make the Margarita with Vodka. :)
Vodka Margs. Brilliant!
(This is me complaining again...) When will synchronized dancing phase out? Take all that energy and talent and funnel it into a new dance craze that excludes the synchronization. Oh the possibilities for something fresh.
Could always make the Margarita with Vodka. :)
Ohhh that would be tasty. Like a vodka gimlet?
Gin margaritas are called maggies. Gin=British=Maggie Thatcher, savvy?
There's a town not far from Madison called Stoughton which was settled by Norwegers. They still have an annual summer festival called Syttende Mai. I used to go every other year or so growing up because my dad had a coworker from there and all the families would get together. Good times.
I live 5 miles from a very Norwegian town of Stoughton, WI. To be a Norwegian Dancer @ Stoughton HS is a big honor. They travel around looking quite gay..the guys anyway. When we first moved to WI we heard, "You have to go to Syttende de Mai, it's incredible." The town of Stoughton closes up for this festival. So, my bride and I went. What a boring culture and festival. The fact that Norwegians live longer than all others proves God is a ball buster. The food is inedible except for lefse. That's OK. The rosemauling competition is one of the highlights. Google it, I'm not going to take the time to explain this boring fucking craft. Norwegians are pleasant, provincial, boring people. And Norway is socialism gone wild. The funny series Lillehammer gives you a good view of Norway and Norwegians.
Norwegian vodka: Akvavit.
Never tried the stuff. I bet it's similar to Icelandic brennevin which I have tried once. Too many.
Norwegians are pleasant, provincial, boring people.
I have book called "Old World Wisconsin" published in 1945. Each chapter focuses on a different culture which contributed to Wisconsin history. There's a lot of detail in there. I blogged a couple of these a awhile back. Nick Spinelli got pretty excited about the Italian one in Madison. That's because Nick's a bit of a bigot and thinks that only Italian culture and Italian food is what counts in the world.
Ladies and gentlemen, the man who has the thinnest skin on the planet, stalking me like his girlfriend. Buck up, buttercup. I talk about all types of great food. We had a discussion about BBQ and Mexican just yesterday. We're going our for Chinese tonight, a great dumpling restaurant. I have spoken about growing up w/ Pollacks and how I love their underappreciated food. Discussed living in a German neighborhood in Chicago and some great German restaurants in that great city. I've talked about liking Thai and getting introduced to Viet Namese food here in San Diego. You know, a safe city that frightens you. Get a self esteem transplant. Or, at least get on the waiting list. Norwegian food sucks. For chrissake, many Norwegians will tell you that. And, Italians are one of the great food cultures in history. You hear people say all the time, "I feel like Italian or Mexican or Chinese, or steak or BBQ." Ever hear anyone say, "Hmm, honey, lets got out for some Norwegian." Where the fuck would you go??
Bruce, someone needs to sit you down and tell you to stop fucking w/ me. It's masochistic and quite pitiful.
I don't understand the Scandinavians at all. I mean they had paradise, all that homogeneity, and then they invited in their own doom. Of course I DO understand them. Human beings, all of us, do precious little thinking. Multi-Culti and diversity was in the air so they said to themselves we've gotta get with the system. What a catastrophe.
Norwegians use a lot of dill, which goes well with fish, usually cod. It's basically a fish and potatoes and meat and potatoes diet.
I forgot their pancakes. Gute Schmeck.
ricpic, Italians make a codfish called baccala. The fish is dried in salt and then rinsed and cooked w/ tomatoes, capers, etc. These fucking Norwegians have a "delicacy" called lutefisk. It too is dried codfish. But, it's dried in FUCKING LYE!
And Minnesotans eat more lutefisk than Norwegians ever would. It's nasty stuff. It's like eating all of those various things... balut?... almost a bar food, the sort you eat on a dare when you're really drunk... except without drinking first. Norse are hardcore. This is 90 year old grannies at church suppers looking you in the eye and daring you... slurp it down wuss-cake. *I* can. Can you?
Alternately lutefisk was someone's idea of a practical joke. Norse are amazing practical jokers and will go to incredible lengths and never ever give it up, break a smile, nothing... take it to their *grave* to laugh about in Valhalla.
Synova, Drying codfish in poison is hilarious. I'm hoping for a post on lefse, the one good food item in the Norwegian repertoire. My daughter married a guy who is half Puerto Rican[mom is from Queens] and half Norwegian. His mom was taught by her Norwegian mother-in-law how to make lefse. She left her the wooden paddle when she died. The family makes a shitload of lefse on Thanksgiving weekend to have during the Christmas/NY Holiday. There is something endearing seeing a Puerto Rican NYer, who sounds like she just got off the subway, making lefse in Fairbault, MN. As Don King would say, "Only in America!"
Everyone stalks Nick Spinelli, don't you know? He never stalks others, he only snoops on them and then gets enraged when people call him on his invasion of their privacy. He respects no one's privacy but his own.
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