Filed under: culture
You may have heard that New Zealand has more sheep than people…but did you know that Kiwi sheep shearers are extremely hard working people? They work from 5am-5pm, live in dorm-like buildings, and drink lots of beer.
The British who settled New Zealand were not very nice to the indigenous people, the Maoris. The Maori people had no concept of land ownership, and didn’t realize what “selling their land” really meant. The tribal chief who sold Wellington to the British thought that only 9 or 10 Europeans would come to settle there, not thousands and thousands.
There is a festival in the small town of Blackball called Blackballzup. During this festival they have a “horse plopping” competition. Participants bet on which section of a field the horse will “plop” in first. They wait around to see where the horse poops, and whoever’s right gets all the money.
One last Kiwi fun fact: In 1917 New Zealand passed a 6pm Pub Law where all pubs had to close at 6pm and couldn’t reopen until the next day. This didn’t slow the pub-goers down though. Men would get off of work at 5pm, dedicate the next hour to guzzling as much beer as possible, and then go on their way. This law lasted until 1967.
Filed under: culture
What is it about coffeeshops that are so appealing to so many people? Is it just a trend right now, or has this culture been around for a while? Maybe it’s the social atmosphere without actually having to socialize that draws coffeshop-goers in. Maybe it’s the people watching that lends itself to much procrastination from what you actually went there to do (work, read, write, etc.). Or maybe it’s the ambiance and atmosphere that people love so much. For me, I think it’s a blend of all of the above.
Which Richmond coffeeshop do you frequent the most?
a) the “real” Crossroads on Forrest Hill with the outdoorsy/artsy crowd
b) the new Crossroads/old World Cup next to VCU with students and fan dwellers
c) any of the trillion Starbucks with the in-and-out businessmen or the moms with strollers
d) the ever so smelly Shockoe Espresso with Adcenter kids and Creative Directors from Martin (and the occasional crazy person)
e) the European-inspired Cafe Gutenberg with the wine drinkers, intellectuals, and Sunday brunchers
f) all of the above
