Happy Day of Azerbaijanis, Everybody!

In an official proclamation that probably made the entire world cheer for the courage of our mayor, Bill White has officially declared today the Day of Azerbaijanis. And it's about time, literally, as today March 21st is the traditional Azerbaijani festival of Novruz, commemorating the spring equinox and "the awakening of natural life", in Mayor White's words.

As devout members of Bill White's fan club already know, our mayor's fondness for the country on the Caspian goes back since at least 1996, when he landed a seat on the Board of Directors of the US-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce. We imagine this relationship probably has had something to do with Azerbaijan's strong petroleum industry and White's past as Deputy Secretary of Energy.

Word about the proclamation has already traveled across the globe, with the Azeri Press Agency running a tiny article about the declaration. (The APA's slogan: "We are shouldering a world of news"--indeed you are, sirs!) According to the blurb, "Exhibitions, concerts were held in Houston and the people were informed about Azerbaijan." By were, they probably meant will be, as the Houston Azerbaijanis organization is going all out and throwing a wicked Novruz party this Saturday. The celebration will feature food, folk dancing, a disco night with an Azerbaijani DJ, and, yes, a fire jumping ceremony that will automatically render the event ten times more awesome than your current non-fire-jumping weekend plans.

There's no word yet on whether our sister city of Baku, Azerbaijan is planning to proclaim a Day of Houstonians, but we think they'll owe us one after this.