Today’s annual pancake sprint at Washington’s National Cathedral was not the biggest race of the day, that’s for sure. But at least it took place — the historic British event that inspired it was flipped on its face by bureaucracy.
For centuries, locals in the cathedral city of Ripon, in the north of England, have cheered on scores of frying-pan wielding churchmen, businessmen and children, racing on the cobbled streets. This year the weight of red tape – health and safety regulations, child protection legislation, and insurance – turned off volunteer helpers, and organizers had to toss out the race. The story goes the event’s earliest origins involved Saxon women wooing Danish invaders with alcohol-drenched pancakes, waiting till they passed out, then stabbing them to death.
On a sweeter note…a little pancake video is hitting the spot online, with more than 1,500,000 views in just a week. The work of Scottish student, James Provan, it features 2500 frames of animation, an awesomely clean kitchen – and a variety of pancake toppings.
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