Frieda's the Expert
 

In this thread we examine items of interest on which Frieda might be able to give some insight.

Frieda, your comments please?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCUHTDrca4s

well, what can i say? it's funny :D

sint nicolaas is on dec 6th, we celebrate the 5th.. christmas is about the birth of jesus of course, not about a jolly fat man.. but hey, in the USA everything is bigger isn't it ;) :p

I just don't get the title... 6 to 8 black men ? Is zwarte pete some kind of pun?

zwarte piet a pun? zwart means black, Piet is just a name.. no.. St. N used to have one helper, a black guy in a 1700s costume. you have to keep in mind though this celebration is older than the people that founded the USA. there were slaves in those days, the tale goes that St. N bought a slave free and he became his helper. the helper stayed, remained black, just like st. N remained white, then after WW2 the usa & canadian soldiers made up that St. N should have multiple helpers and started to name them kadootjes-piet (gift piet, the guy that wraps everything), rhyme-piet (who makes up the rhymes you get with your gifts), etc. the 6-8 is bs, the helpers are not.

ah... I'm not questioning the validity of the holiday and the characters...

I'm just trying to figure out David Sedaris got so confused that he heard "six to eight"... whether the joke is that he misheard "zwarte piet" as "six to eight" or whether the Dutch person in the story actually would have said "six to eight" in English and Sedaris is just in some sort of incredulous denial or if the Dutch person said "zes aan acht".... etc etc ... any idea?

I think he just thought it was funny that it was never "6", "8", or "some"...but always "6 to 8."

It would be funny if we always said Santa Claus had 6 to 8 tiny reindeer, but could never pin it down...

But here's something maybe Frieda can help me with:

Where can I get a handbag like this one!?!?

i'm sorry funky, i totally forgot to watch the clip again :o will comment on it later, i promise!

pearly-- somewhere in the walled city of the holy handbag. or maybe just between a camel's legs. :eek:

dear Frieda

I'm a third level Dwarf and I want to go fight a cave troll. Do you think I need to buy a +2 magical bronze shield or should I just go in with a pair of reinforced leather pants and an eyepatch ?