Christchurch's Sesquicentennial

I've been present for three sesquicentennial's that I know of: California's, Seattle's, and now Christchurch's that was celebrated on Saturday. I went to nothing formal for California's except that all the license plates that year were inscribed with "Sesquicentennial 150 Years." Once you watch Waiting for Guffman the meaning of the word is burned into your memory. Seattle's passed in Seattle's traditional style without anything happening except a newspaper editorial whining that nothing was happening. Christchurch's was celebrated with a 150 metre carrot cake at Cathedral Square.

There were speeches by the mayor, the spiritual leader of the local iwi, and the Anglican bishop. The mayor said that it was a day of celebration like when Marie Antoinette exclaimed, "Let them eat cake." I didn't know if I wanted to be at the celebration after that comment because I think she was beheaded three days later. My head is still on but it's only been two days. A local celebrity called "The Wizard" cast a spell on the cake. He dresses as Gandalf and is in all the tourist guides. I hadn't seen him yet. The emcee, who I saw at "Starry Night" in the summer, warned us that the cake had walnuts and if you were allergic to nuts you shouldn't eat it. That would've lost the town's coffers in the US with all the lawsuits the nuts would've brought. The cake was moist, dense, and yummy. Usually free food at events like this is terrible.

They also had a "Tram Jam" to see how many people could fit in a Christchurch trolley. I thought that it would be like stuffing people in a phone booth, but the event was more sedate. 176 people were able to comfortably get on a tram.