Didn't stop me

[stephbg]

Today is Melbourne Cup day. While traditionally an excuse to eat chicken and drink champagne with one's workmates, this has rarely been the case for yours truely. Still, I love an occasion and have an impressive array of hats and hat-like constructions at my disposal should the need arise. Today's effort involved carrying in my bag but sadly not wearing a pink fluffy angel's halo. Given the least provocation I would have worn it, but I saw a grand total of two hats in the street (one in the morning and one at lunchtime) and spent the morning in the office mostly alone.

While I was very glad to be in the office, if only for a half day, I did not feel quite perky enough to wear a pink fluffy halo for the benefit of only myself. Instead I propped it over my stuffed-Godzilla-versus-a-stuffed-lamb diorama. This was curiously appropriate, come to think of it, for said halo was originally purchased to be part of a Japanese schoolgirl/street punk costume for Swancon, and the Godzilla was purchased from a gift certificate awarded as a prize for that very costume. How cosmic. Dude.

Although the city population was disappointingly hatless, the dress standard was mildly but noticeably more formal than usual. I'm quite looking forward to The Silly Season where office party fashion diverges noticeable from the norm, and ties start to become an endangered species. Hello Hawaiian shirt season.

Although this year's Melbourne Cup was a non-event personally, I do have a few memories from previous years, although dating is problematic. I might have more memories than the average fashionista who actually attends the thing every year.

* The award for the most pointless MC racecall goes to the year I was swimming laps in the indoor pool at the Superdrome. A cavernous echoey venue at the best of times, I'm not sure the PA system ever actually communicated anything to me in the year or two I went there. On MCD at the time of the race I had the place much to myself, and was much amused--if not particularly enlightened--by the race call broadcast over the PA and filtered through splashing water, my swimming gear, and labouring lungs. Not to mention my habit of humming classical music to myself whilst swimming.

* The award for most annoying MCD goes to the day I was in a workplace big enough and sufficiently populated by females to do the whole sweep + hats + free lunch extravaganza. Unfortunately I chose that day to come down with a stomach bug, so missed out on the free lunch, didn't give a damn about the race, and was eventually escorted to a local GP by a coworker and then piled into a taxi home. I got a free ride if not a free lunch. Unfortunately my nauseated condition made the taxi driver nervous (and I didn't like the look of the plastic shopping bag that was all that stood between me and a hefty upholstery drycleaning bill), and my green complexion and bag-clutching behaviour won not sympathy but drunken guffaws from whoever saw me.

* The award for best foot-in-mouth MCD goes to the year I was working with a relatively large group of people and wanted to be sure everyone had a hat. I'm looking at You, software development team. For reasons perhaps best left unexplained we have four balaclavas, two bunny hoods and a variety of other headwear. Plenty for everyone. Whether they wanted it or not. As the whackiest option, the managing director was firmly adorned with the white bunny hood. Much giggling, and spluttering from the workforce ensued. I was Very Proud of Myself for this act of workplace bondage bonding between staff and management. The MD took it in good grace, although with a noticeable effort.

The problem? Well, apparently everyone except me knew the name of the controversial project that the content department were working on the time: a 2D->3D conversion of a porn film called "White Rabbit". I had crowned the boss as Porn King and hadn't even realised. When I found out later, my response was a very simple and very quiet: "Oh".



Your Melbourne Cup Day stories, anyone?

Comments

[anthanum.livejournal.com]

taught a class starting at 3pm. Asked class when said donkey race was due to be on the TV. Was told 3:20. Dutifully escorted excited class to TV room at 3:15 to find race already run and everybody else vacated. Shrugged, took class back to classroom and continued teaching. worked out astoundingly well I thought.

[drhoz.livejournal.com]

Watched Life In The Undergrowth and painted some crates.

[http://users.livejournal.com/doctor_k_/]

Hmm. Worked like a dog all day long. 10 minute break sometime after 1pm to wolf down the free lunch. I never enjoy Cup Day - everyone else seems to swan about having fun whilst my day is shit.

[baby-elvis.livejournal.com]

Slept through the whole thing cos it was baby nap time.

is de-equinated anything like defenestrated? exit via a horse?

[stephbg.livejournal.com]

More like being de-hydrated - deprived of horse. Racehorses are just battery ponies, no personality. I need some horse contact.

[splanky.livejournal.com]

This year - at cheshirenoir and callistra's place. Watched the race, drank champagne, had a BBQ and chatted all afternoon.

Best year from when I worked in offices - the year I worked with the police. We went to The Grosvenor for lunch and everyone got very drunk. Those coppers know how to do lunch! Best team spirit I've ever come across. I also got second place in the sweep and won the prize for best hat (I was the only person wearing one). And complimented the eybrows of a fellow programmer (male), which, in hindsight (and sobriety) was probably inappropriate.

Best venue for a Melbourne Cup Luncheon - one of the empty top floors of Central Park that office social club took over just for the lunch. I think there was a horse race, but I was rather distracted by the view and I may have been wrong :)