When I was a kid they used to sell poppies at the grocery store and such; I think the VFW did it. I haven’t seen a poppy for sale (or on somebody!) in years, though. It’s a shame.
ETA, my iPod today decided to end a string of inexplicably depressing songs (Kilkelly Ireland, The Foggy Dew, Cats in the Cradle) with “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda”, possibly the saddest song evah.
Ontario schoolchildren don’t get Remembrance Day off any more? We always did when I was at school in Ontario. No idea what my peers did, but on Remembrance Day, I’d join my Dad at the cenotaph outside of Toronto’s Old City Hall for the ceremony.
I guess times have changed.
Remembrance Day was never a civic holiday in Ontario when I was a kid, and I cannot find any reference that it ever was.
I’d agree that it should not be; kids will observe the day, and the moment, if they’re in school, and for the most part won’t if they’re on holiday. It’s not a day for taking the day off and kicking back.
Yes. Ieper had those Vaubin fortifications which weren’t much use against 20th-century artillery. I’ve seen photos of what it looked like by 1918 - Hiroshima wasn’t noticeably in worse shape. It’s amazing what a rebuilding job they did on it, although I didn’t realize until yesterday that the Cloth Hall wasn’t finished until 1964.
The Last Post ceremony was, of course, interrupted while the Germans were about the place in WWII. It’s nice to hear that it was reinstated the evening after the Menin Gate part of Ieper was liberated (by Poles), even though there was still fighting elsewhere in the city. Must’ve sent shivers down the spine of anyone close enough to hear the bugles starting up for the first time in five years, while there was still gunfire only a few streets away.
The British Legion guy kindly offered me my expenses for playing at the second church I did yesterday. I told him not to be silly. 
Sorry-spelling error on my part. No intent to decieve.
You know, I’m 24 years old and have never in my life seen anyone actually selling or wearing these poppies. Maybe the areas of Florida that I’ve lived in have not had enough VFW people being interested enough to sell them. I honestly have never seen one in person, though I have met quite a few veterans in the past on Veteran’s Day.
Never a civic holiday, officially sanctioned by a government. Certainly, working people worked that day. But our schools were closed and we were off school. Maybe it was a Board of Ed thing.
Update on the Jeopardy hijack
Doug was on Monday’s show–which surprised me, since he’d been on Friday’s show. So I didn’t pay attention in time to catch his last name.
[spoiler]But I’ll have another chance later this week–not that I promise anything. You see, Doug was in 2nd place going into final jeopardy, but no one got the answer right. Doug, however, bet only a small sum of money, and the person in 1st place bet a large sum of money. So Doug won, is a finalist, and will be on Thursday and Friday’s shows.
I’m kind of rooting for him, and kind of not. There’s this part of me that wants the winner of the Tournament of Champions to be the type of player who dominates many categories, and sails into Final Jeopardy in First Place.
That’s not Doug, so far, anyway.[/spoiler]