Mention conga lines and most Australians recall fallen Labour leader Mark Latham’s gritty Liberal perjorative, a conga line of suckholes. For others, it may instead bring to mind the modern day tragedy that is the drunken wedding conga line, rendered doubly wretched if led by a cake-soaked and inebriated bride.
Here are a few lesser-known conga line facts:
• There is a Facebook Conga Line Appreciation Society, though COFA is not yet a member.
• The longest conga line ever was on 13 March 1998 in Little Havana, Miami. 119,986 people took part.
• There is reportedly some kind of conga etiquette. However, its intricacies clearly escape its drunken devotees.
• People who like, promote or participate in conga lines are colloquially known as ‘congarites’.
• Other than the Great Wall of China, the conga line at Geoffrey Edelsten’s wedding to 25-year-old fitness instructor Brynne Gordon was the only other manmade structure visible from outerspace.
• Desi Arnaz Jr, the husband of legendary comedienne Lucille Ball, popularized the conga line when he fled to the United States from Cuba.
• Ironically, back in 1929, his father, Dr Desi Arnaz Sr and mayor of Santiago de Cuba, outlawed the conga line in a repressive attempt to remove threatening African elements from popular Cuban music.
• Damage caused by conga lines have ended up in court. In Lederer v. Famous Entertainment, Inc., the 59-year-old Lederer successfully sued for US$450,000 after a disc jockey led a conga line that left him with a shattered right femur, a fractured right kneecap and in need of a walker for the rest of his life.
No comments:
Post a Comment