Anzac Day Antics

"Ohhhh, Anzac Day, Anzac Day, 2-up and beer." You all know that old song. Well, yesterday we had a chance to sing along to this song as well as many others (such as We Are the World) in Rozelle. Aaron & Ben threw a solid party, complete with 2-up! 2-up? Anzac? Little help here.

• Anzac = Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
• Anzac Day = Australian and New Zealand Army Corps Day, so you could also call it Anzacd

This day, the 25th of April, even if it lands on a Wednesday, is a public holiday meant to honour the diggers. Diggers?

• Diggers = Anzac soldiers

Anzac Day starts with a dawn service, about a quarter after 4 in the morning. There are parades all over Australia and New Zealand. Supermarkets are closed until 1PM out of respect for the diggers. Pubs generally open just after the dawn service. Then people play 2-up (two-up). 2-up (two-up?)?

• 2-up = This is a gambling game that is banned every day of the year except Anzac Day. (I know, it just gets weirder and weirder, doesn't it?) The game involves a "spinner" placing two coins on a flat stick, called a "kip". After this, I've heard many variations on the rules. Essentially you bet if the coins will turn up heads or tails. If their mixed, you spin again. A "boxer" oversees bets with the spinner, and other people can place side bets. It's good fun.

The story is that during WWI, Turkish troops saw a group of Australian troops playing two-up. They were too far away to see what was happening, but they saw the diggers' heads bobbing up and down. The Turks decided not to attack because they assumed they were praying. They were not too far off thinking that gambling was an Australian religion.

Back to the BBQ. After the two-up ended and we had a good comb through Aaron's record collection, we hit the 3 Weeds just down the road. It was an excellent day/night, though it made today, a Thursday, feel like a Monday/Friday.

Check out all the good shots here, including wolfman.

We ARE the world.