HAPPY EASTER!

Sunday, April 12. 2009

Rudy and Fiona just returned from distributing the Easter eggs all over the county, with a very special “egg” just for Coney.
Rudy did a very selfless thing this week in arranging for Fiona to get half of his college scholarship money. It’s completely fair since Fiona has done half of the work, and the Rabbit Council approved the change by a simple voice vote. Kell had reservations, of course (looking out for her son above all else), but Rudy’s logical arguments swayed her.
Of course, he couldn’t resist getting off a verbal potshot at me. A scholarship and marriage are two different things. Ahem.
This was all after Dad and Kell returned from their Second Honeymoon. They’d encountered a Bear family who’d been cheated out of the resort they owned, because they followed the instructions of a financial advisor named Goldilocks who had underhanded motives. She abused the trust they had in her, and she gave them advice that enabled her to take over their property. It turned out, however, that she was lousy at running a resort and it was already teetering on the edge of solvency when my folks showed up.
Kell walked around the cabins brushing her fur, and the few remaining guests fled in terror at the scent of a wolf. Goldilocks couldn’t make her own payments (due the next day), and instead of going through the whole foreclosure/bankruptcy thing she just agreed to sell it back to the Bears. Yeah, she made a profit. Everyone seemed to live happily ever after.
One note. Rudy made a comment about Dad being a rodent. He does know the difference between lagomorphs and rodents, but he’s never let a fact stand in the way of a good insult.
Today's question: How do humans of the Christian faith celebrate Easter? I'm guessing it has nothing to do with eggs and bunnies!

Posted by Lindesfarne at 12:54 | Comments (19) | Trackbacks (0)

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Yes. Yes it does.

#1 asdf on 2009-04-12 13:28 (Reply)

You... would be surprised. We actually do have an "Easter Bunny" tradition here, as well as painted eggs, though here its just parents that put them out and say it was a bunny. I'm not sure where exactly the tradition came from in our world, though, or especially how it came to be associated with a holiday intended to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

By the way, I have to ask: is there a fairy tale called Goldilocks and the three bears over there? Because, as mentioned earlier, what happened to the bears is oddly similar to a story we have over here, albeit without the financial backdrop, Goldilocks being a human, and without her being allowed to keep it for very long.

Finally, there's something that started to bug me this morning. Back in the bird conspiracy, it was mentioned that they were starting to try and arrange it so that computers would run the world instead of them. Now, the comic hasn't mentioned too much about that since then, but I have to wonder how far that system would be willing to extend its control.

In specific, I had once thought about how larger bits of data could be sent through the data portal slowly if it wasn't in use. But I wonder if the system would try and extend its control to our world through this new-found connection, and if it did, if our anti-virus software would be enough to stop it.

As I said, not that its shown much of an obvious effect on your world, but even as bad a stewards as we humans are of our world sometimes, I find the idea somewhat... unsettling.

#2 Koronak on 2009-04-12 14:14 (Reply)

I remember the first time I stood up to my mother and made it stick. It's a right of passage that you almost cannot forget. His potshot at you was low. You are correct: there's a big difference between marriage and a scholarship. (Although, in Rudy and Fiona's case, I find it difficult to think that they won't end up married...)

I glad to know that Kell knew for certain that Goldilocks had cheated the bears out of their resort. It wasn't quite as clear over here that fraud had been committed until after Kell had deliberately shed her fur all over the place...

As for Rudy's 'rodent' remark. just remember that your dad's first wife Angelique is now a rat.

Sigh. As for how Christians celebrate Easter, it looks (to me) like the true meaning of the day has been lost to a great degree. It is supposed to be a reminder of Christ's Resurrection, and many/most people who consider themselves good Christians attend the religious services of their denomination. But as soon as the service is over, there are Easter Egg hunts and baskets of candy, loads of chocolate bunnies everywhere. In short Easter has, to a great extent, become another religious holyday that has been commercialized into the ground. It is now more of a celebration of the rebirth of Spring than it is a rebirth of the spirit/soul.

I hate being a cynic...

#3 CharlieG on 2009-04-12 14:30 (Reply)

Happy Easter Lindesfarne. Guess your mother put that rat in a rather "hairy" situation.

Easter in Christianity has been observed as a celebration of Christ's resurection from the dead. It's been celebrated longer than Christmas. It comes after Lent, which has traditionally been a time for giving up certain foods (in many languages, "Lent" means "fast").

As it turns out, eggs have played a part in celebrating Easter. Eggs were seen as a symbol of new life, and as they were not allowed to be eaten during Lent, eggs laid then were preserved by boiling them, and they became a big part of Easter meals.

Dying the eggs might have started with the practice of painting them red (a custom still practiced by some Eastern Orthodox) to honor a story of Mary supposedly going to the Emperor of Rome and telling him about the risen Christ, whom pointed to an egg on a nearby table and answered, "Christ is no more risen any more than this egg is red." And in the story, the egg immediately turned blood red.

The Easter Bunny, or "Easter Hare" as it was originally called in German, isn't quite as old in celebrating Easter, though does have pagan roots. It's thought that peasants were confused by abandoned birds eggs near hare burrows, and by a kind of bird called a lapwing that makes a nest similar to a hare's. There's also a story of children accidentaly scaring off a rabbit while looking for hidden Easter eggs. Reguardless how it started, German children began looking forward to the "Oschter Haws" leaving eggs behind in baskets set out for them, and the tradition spread.

#4 Bixyl Shuftan (Link) on 2009-04-12 14:31 (Reply)

Humans have the Easter bunny tradition, too? With decorated eggs? Whoa. I'm frequently amazed by the similarities between our worlds. I wonder if this blog isn't the first means of communication between us.
No, we don't have a Goldilocks story over here. Although, I guess we do now.

#5 Lindesfarne Dewclaw on 2009-04-12 15:35 (Reply)

Two other points about Easter Eggs over here. One country (Lithuania) has made painting these eggs a true art. They paint then in intricate patterns layering paint on carefully. They use wax to cover previously-painted areas to get the effect they want. They are incredibly detailed and take quite a long time to make.

The most expensive Easter Eggs were made by Faberge for the Russian Tsar (and some others). They were made of precious metals and gems, and always contained a surprise inside. This is probably the origin of the term 'Easter Egg' for hidden information on DVD's.

#6 CharlieG on 2009-04-12 16:17 (Reply)

This is a common Slavic artform. They egg is called a pysanka (plural pysanky). I have decided this Easter to take up the hoby (I am Bohemian by ancestry) and hope to have a few good enough next Easter to donate to my Church for a display.

#6.1 Thomas Mazanec (Link) on 2009-04-15 11:46 (Reply)

As it turns out, the easter egg thing predates christianity, going back as far as pagan religions seeing the egg as a symbol of the celebration of spring. Christanity, as some people don't realize, is really a massive amalgm to allow converters to have some comfort practices.... Its base book is the Holy Tora of the Jews, the image of God having a beard and all shiny is referenced to Zeus AND Sun worship, and the egg that symbolizes the rebirth of Christ in christianity is, like i said, a symbol the coming and celebration of spring, and the birth of the growing/green seasons.

Bixyl Shuftan has the main story of the easter bunny and eggs down, though i never heard of the red egg part till now. I have to laugh at that, because that had to be a jaw drop moment for the emperor. They just got rid of this guy who was giving them problem, and they think hes now in a hole in a cliff, only to be told by a woman, and a suddenly red egg, that theyre completely wrong!

#7 Stephen Flint on 2009-04-12 16:38 (Reply)

don't let it bother you miss dew claw. there is a collection of reasons for the similarities but you're never prove most of them i'd rather not frustrate you with what little i've gleamed of your worlds history admittedly most of my transitions evens I your worlds history have been by following various people through often accident time/ dimension portals line with your all were sent back in time while your father was attempting to fix the Y2K glitch in your computer of when your aunt... Martha Fiona’s mother is your aunt correct ? anyway when your aunt and uncle enter Nick and Ki'’s earth on their honey moon a time i tagged along thong i tarred in that world a bit longer then they did it's quite amazing how similar thing get between related worlds. Also i've been trying to do the math for how much power you'd need to open your own portal...it’s not worth the effort and Nick's method requires building a device capable of harnessing the energy or proto universes that never big banned. not easy to do even if he fixed the whole black out a 500 mile radius problem

#8 e_voyager on 2009-04-12 18:28 (Reply)

you can get black holes that small?

#8.1 asdf on 2009-04-12 19:46 (Reply)

it's not quite a black hole more like a receiver that harnesses an energy source outside of your current universe. not easy to explain thee are others who can explain it to you if you can find them.

#8.1.1 e_voyager on 2009-04-13 02:38 (Reply)

Let's see if I can quickly summarize our Goldilocks and the Three Bears story for you L -- that may give you some backstory. Goldlocks is wandering thru the woods and comes across a small house. She goes in. She sees three chairs and sits in each one: "This chair is too hard" "This chair is too soft" "This chair is just right", but then she breaks it. She sees three bowls of porridge on the table, and samples them "This porridge is too hot" "... too cold", "... just right" and she eats it all up. She find three beds and tries them: "This bed is too hard" "... too soft" "... just right" and falls asleep. The Three Bears come home to their cottage. Papa Bear says "Someone's been sitting in my chair" Mama Bear says "Someone's been sitting in my chair" Baby Bear says "Someone's been sitting in my chair, and they broke it". They go to the table and look at the porrridge. P: "Someone's been eating my porridge", M: (same thing), B: "... and they've eaten it all up.". They come to the beds. P: "Someone's been sleeping in my bed" M: (same thing) B: (same thing)"...and they're still sleeping in it". At this point I can't remember if they chase her away or eat her, but apparently in your world L. they called the police and had her arrested for trespassing. Hope this helps with the backstory.

#9 GreatScott on 2009-04-12 22:09 (Reply)

Yes, that was the police report that Dad found online.

#10 Lindesfarne Dewclaw on 2009-04-13 00:21 (Reply)

Easter Celebrations are simple affairs. First we hide eggs everywhere and send the kids out to look for them. While this is going on we plunder the Easter baskets for all the good candies. Then, to explain why we have chocolate on our hands, we bite the heads off of the chocolate Easter rabbits and say that they did it and we had to wrestle them and twist their heads off to save the rest of the candy. Once the children are all traumatized and crying, we send them to bed and eat the rest of the candy ourselves.

Children's holidays are such fun!

#11 Bookkeeper-At-Arms on 2009-04-13 01:10 (Reply)

I'm very glad you mentioned about your brother playing the part of the Easter Bunny in your region, Lindesfarne. This might help explain a rather...strange incident that happened to me the other day at work.

Well, it was the day before Easter and I hear a page over the communications system from a manager, asking my location. I give it. A minute later, the manager comes up. He's escorting a female bunny, who is paying close attention to me. To make the conversation that followed as brief as possible, she proposed for me to become the Easter Bunny in my West Coast region. I did not...well...know how to take it and politely refused. I had my reasons.

Still, I can not completely understand this. Your father is a member of the Rabbit Council, correct? Does your father...or the Council have access to your blog? If so, are they looking into those adding replies for some reason? I was going to say personal blog...but, it seems to have become quite the public event on multiple dimensions. I can't for the life of anything place a reason to this event, outside of my regular postings into your blog. And, ponder what consequences this might generate. It's not like I've ever mentioned where I work for a living in here. That didn't seem to stop them from finding me.

#12 jup-reindeer on 2009-04-13 04:54 (Reply)

Isn't it interesting how some things are so similar, yet different between the two sides of the portal. For example, the Easter Bunny. Both have stories of a bunny who hides eggs for children to find, and (at least for now), the truth is it isn't a bunny at all who hides them! As I recall, Fiona has a talent for disguises, and as a fennec fox, I presume she can make herself look quite convincingly as a rabbit. Is she able to do the same for your brother?

#13 Patch O'Black on 2009-04-13 14:08 (Reply)

I'm sure she could if needed but usually they just wear those fake puffball tails and Rudy adds a set of fake bunny ears. (Fiona just uses her normal ones)
As seen here...
http://www.kevinandkell.com/2008/kk0323.html

Remember that in the K&K world the smell is more important than appearence.

#13.1 Elwood Blutarsky on 2009-04-16 01:01 (Reply)

i've never had much of a sense of smell so i'm not going to be able to tell by scent. beside they might how ever use some of Kevin's fur to confuse their scent before the big night anyway. just and thought mind you there.

#13.1.1 e_voyager on 2009-04-16 19:47 (Reply)

Depending on the type of Christianity, the celebration can be different.

I'm currently attending an Anglican Church in Sydney, but I usually go to church on Easter and Good Friday to worship and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's usually a solemn affair on Good Friday, with the taking of the Lord's Supper (we eat the bread and drink the wine to remember His body broken for us and his blood spilled for us) and a joyful celebration on Easter.

I'm sure that the actual event occurs on another date (according to the Bible, during the Passover), but since we already picked this time in April because of pagan conversion, might as well continue along with it, so long as I remember to keep the Lord's work in mind, I suppose the date itself doesn't matter.

I didn't cover the eggs, but I know that Australians love to eat hot cross buns during this time, and I'm not impartial to a bit of chocolate!

#14 Selphie Trabia on 2009-04-22 17:38 (Reply)

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