Karnevol 2016, Shooting Stars

Published in Highlights

The 2016 Karnevol skit - inevitably - centred on Jelsa's Christmas “Star Wars”. Friendly fun, culminating in peace.

In the run-up to Christmas 2015, the atmosphere in Jelsa became decidedly heated. When is a Christmas star the wrong kind of star? This burning question had the community polarized, with a small but vociferous section claiming that among the Christmas decorations put up by the local council was a 'communist star'. Some even refused to take part in the Christmas Eve celebrations on Jelsa's Pjaca in protest. The Mayor defended himself and 'his' star. The national press took up the story, having little else of note to report on. The poor innocent star became a political football. Some workers took it on themselves to remove it and replace it with a shooting star. The Mayor quite reasonably demurred. Most normal people in Jelsa and beyond thought the whole thing a joke. And so it became, when the time was right.

 

The Christmas kerfuffle having died down, the gifted humourists who make up Jelsa's first-class Carnival Association (Udruga Karnevol) gave the story a final airing as the culmination of the Shrove Tuesday festivities. Jelsa's Pjaca was adorned with five-pointed stars, up on walls and balconies, with a big outline on the ground in the centre of the square. There were five-pointed stars everywhere.

The stage was set for some fun with the star as the central attraction. There was a narrator on the stage, who expertly led the unfolding dialogue.

A TV commentator and cameranan on high reflected the unprecedented national media attention which Jelsa's “Star Wars” had engendered.

Overhead, two stars travelled back and forth in endless motion, one five-pointed, the other a shooting star.

Their endless motion was readily explained: one cafe owner had offered the young worker a sum of money to put up one star, another the same amount for the other. To make it fair to both, the stars were in constant motion, so that conflict was avoided.

What was the car doing right in front of the balcony? Ah. Jelsa has a parking problem, and everyone wants to park as close as possible to their favourite cafe, shop, restaurant. That's how the modern world functions, right? Meanwhile, there was a sub-plot. A group of nuns took to the stage, set up a tent, and started enjoying a picnic. Food is always central to the action in Dalmatia.

Light-hearted, with a bit of barb. The scene reflected a recent event, when Jelsa's nun were re-located. The house where they had lived for several years was given a make-over before being re-allocated to the local religious education teacher. The sudden departure of the nuns was a shock within the parish, where they had been well-known, respected and loved by several generations for their service to the community.

Every Carnival focuses on national politics as well as local happenings. So it was no surprise when the current country leaders rolled up in their Most-mobile - as in Popemobile, Most being the Bridge party which held the balance in last year's elections, and which in Jelsa was parodied as Most uzdisaja, the Bridge of Sighs. Yes, indeed, only too apt.

The story of the two stars was initiated by Jelsa's renowned blogger, the ludi Englez (mad Englishman) Paul Bradbury, famous not only for his excellent perceptive writing, but also for his short-sleeved wintertime t-shirts, his pink skin and his love of beer. Seen in the photo above in grey t-shirt, star round neck, photographing the Most-mobile. Of course he had to feature in the Carnival sketch, short sleeves, pinkness, beer and all.

Parodied Paul was subjected to a humorous portrayal of his well-known dislike of chard (blitve), which contrasts with his undying love of beer. Then he was relegated to his role of photographing and recording the events of the day. He got off lightly, according to his wife. Flanked by 'Professor' Frank John Duboković, Paul watched his doppelganger with fascination.

The politicians were duly lampooned, especially the Croatian President, who in real life has taken up a university course alongside her presidential duties, and the Prime Minister, who famously confused his words and referred to his citizens as 'buildings' in his first public speech, a gaffe he will never be allowed to forget. On stage his character sang the Prime Minister's 'Orešković song'.

Then the stars took centre stage again. The Christmas drama was re-enacted. The five-pointed star went up, came down, was replaced by the shooting star.

 

The Mayor threw a wobbly - rather more dramatic on stage than his dignified press statement which also appeared on his Facebook page.

And then a peaceful compromise was found: both stars erected to take pride of place together.

Indeed, the same solution as was found for the Christmas crisis.

The show concluded with happy singing and dancing - and a cryptic question from the compere: who will be on stage next year? which politicians? how many stars? will anyone start a sweep on it at the local betting shop? 

Paul Bradbury took up a photo-opportunity with his young doppelganger.

There was the triumphant departure of the stars of the show.

The Jelsa Carnival is always well organized from start to finish. It is one of the happiest occasions in the local calendar. The skits are witty, cleverly written and well-presented, sometimes cutting close to a nerve or bone, but never malicious or spiteful. Its success as a happy festive event for all age groups is exemplary. Long may it survive in its current form!

© Vivian Grisogono 2016

 

You are here: Home highlights Karnevol 2016, Shooting Stars

Eco Environment News feeds

  • Appeal court says defendants’ ‘beliefs and motivation’ do not constitute lawful excuse for damaging property

    One of the last defences for climate protesters who commit criminal damage has been in effect removed by the court of appeal. The court said the “beliefs and motivation” of a defendant do not constitute lawful excuse for causing damage to a property.

    The defence that a person honestly believes the owner of a property would have consented had they known the full circumstances of climate change has been used successfully over the last year by protesters.

    Continue reading...

  • Academic experts also criticise UN Food and Agriculture Organization for dismissing alternative proteins

    The omission of meat-eating reduction from proposals in a UN roadmap to tackle the climate crisis and end hunger is “bewildering”, according to academic experts.

    The group also criticised the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s report for “dismissing” the potential of alternative proteins, such as plant-based meat, to reduce the impact of livestock on the environment.

    Continue reading...

  • Perhaps our government imagines bulldog spirit will protect us from the dangerous substances that Europe rules unsafe

    It’s a benefit of Brexit – but only if you’re a manufacturer or distributor of toxic chemicals. For the rest of us, it’s another load we have to carry on behalf of the shysters and corner-cutters who lobbied for the UK to leave the EU.

    The government insisted on a separate regulatory system for chemicals. At first sight, it’s senseless: chemical regulation is extremely complicated and expensive. Why replicate an EU system that costs many millions of euros and employs a small army of scientists and administrators? Why not simply adopt as UK standards the decisions it makes? After all, common regulatory standards make trading with the rest of Europe easier. Well, now we know. A separate system allows the UK to become a dumping ground for the chemicals that Europe rules unsafe.

    George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist

    Join George Monbiot for a Guardian Live online event on Wednesday 8 May 2024 at 8pm BST. He will be talking about his new book, The Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism. Book tickets here

    Continue reading...

  • Installations must speed up 11-fold as advisers say latest changes to scheme likely to make 2028 target even harder

    The public spending watchdog has criticised the slow pace of the government’s heat pump rollout just days after ministers postponed an important scheme designed to increase the rate of installations.

    A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) has found that heat pump installations would need to accelerate 11-fold if the government is to reach its target for 600,000 heat pumps installed in homes every year by 2028.

    Continue reading...

  • Ballachrink, Isle of Man: My monthly bird survey started so slowly that I nearly gave up – I would have missed a ‘first’ for this site if I had

    Quietly opening the shutters of the hide, I have before me a “lake”, which almost anywhere else in the world would be termed a humble pond. I am smug to have the whole reserve to myself and settle down, marvelling at seeing the same view twice at once, reflected in the serene, mirror-flat water.

    Each month, I and thousands of like-minded volunteers, undertake bird surveys across the country for the British Trust for Ornithology. At first glance, my visit today appears to be a disappointment. After five whole minutes, I haven’t seen a single bird on the lake. Dejected, I consider moving on, but my instinct tells me to sit for a while.

    Continue reading...

  • A traditionally male-dominated industry is being quietly transformed by an influx of talent who don’t fit the stereotype

    Back in the 1970s, Holly Collins was studying for her A-levels in Sussex. While her friends sent off their university applications, she wrote to the Royal Agricultural College asking for an entry form, hoping to follow her dream of becoming a farmer.

    “They wrote back with the following answer: ‘Dear Miss Collins, we do not admit women.’”

    Continue reading...

  • GPs with convictions over protests face tribunals to determine whether they can keep licence to practise

    Dr Sarah Benn has long been concerned about the climate crisis, diligently recycling until she was “blue in the face”. But the rise of the climate activist group Extinction Rebellion in 2019 inspired her and her husband to go further. “We thought: well, if we don’t do it then who else is going to?”

    While working as a GP near Birmingham, Benn became increasingly involved in direct action over the next few years, and once glued her hand to the door of the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy in protest at the government’s inaction on the climate.

    Continue reading...

  • Caistor St Edmund, Norfolk: On a day spent picking horse poo from the pasture, I welcome this Celtic charm

    I am up to my ankles in thick mud, scraping horse poo up from a waterlogged pasture. It’s been a tough winter for anyone who spends lots of time outdoors. East Anglia has recorded its wettest (and warmest) February on record, with endless drab days of persistent rain.

    Poo-picking helps to keep the pasture palatable and reduces the parasitic worms that can infect the horses, but it’s hard work. My wheelbarrow is nearly full of muck, and the hill looms. I wonder if I may give up halfway, stuck in mud, my lifeless body waiting to be found. Yet I push through the mire and take a breather halfway, heart racing.

    Continue reading...

  • Researchers found that the Victorians brought so many seeds and saplings to Britain that experts say the giant redwoods now outnumber those in their US homeland

    Three giant redwoods tower over Wakehurst’s Elizabethan mansion like skyscrapers. Yet at 40 metres (131ft) high, these are almost saplings – not even 150 years old and already almost twice as high as Cleopatra’s Needle.

    “At the moment they’re some of the tallest trees in the UK and they are starting to poke above the forest canopy. But if they grow to their full potential, they’re going to be three times taller than most trees,” says Dr Phil Wilkes, part of the research team at Wakehurst, in West Sussex, an outpost of Kew Gardens. One or two of these California imports would be curiosities, such as the 100-metre high redwood that was stripped of its bark in 1854 and exhibited to Victorian crowds at the Crystal Palace in south-east London, until it was destroyed by fire in 1866.

    Continue reading...

  • Right to Roam finds areas of outstanding natural beauty have on average poorer footpath access than rest of England

    England’s most stunning “national landscapes” are largely out of bounds, and 22 of the 34 have less than 10% of their area open to the public, research has found.

    The government last year renamed areas of outstanding natural beauty to national landscapes, and said part of their aim was to widen access to nature. Ministers said at the time the new name reflected a recognition that they are not just beautiful but important for many reasons including improving wellbeing.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds