Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Lions and Tigers and Gnus, Oh My!

We've done the Magic Kingdom, more than once, and found that when you go in the middle of the night, you get to do almost everything with no wait.

It doesn't quite work that way at the Animal Kingdom, but since all i like to do there is the safari ride, and the rest of the animals i can see on foot, that went great.  There were lions and tigers, gnus and okapi, rhinos and cheetahs and giraffes and zebras and, well, everything!  Except the bats, they had gone to bed already by the time i got there.

We've even been to Epcot, and are going back.

It's fun, and funny, and i'm still up late at night and up early in the morning.

The crash will come, but not yet, i'm too busy.

Mickey is waiting, gotta go!
 

Today is:

Day of Cancelled Expectations -- according to William Least Heat-Moon in his autobiography, Blue Highways

Dita e Pavaresise -- Kosovo (Independence Day)(2008)

Feast of Shezmu -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (god of the winepress; date approximate)

February 17 Revolution Day -- Libya

Hachinohe Enburi Matsuri -- Hachinohe, Japan (festival with prayers for a good harvest; through Wednesday)

International Pancake Day

Last day of Celtic Tree Month Luis (Rowan)

Maha Shivaratri -- Hindu (festival of Shiva; local observances and government official days off will vary)

Mardi Gras -- Fat Tuesday, Carnival, the last day to feast before the Lenten fast begins tomorrow, greeted with revelry in many parts of the world; related observances and names:
     Scotland, Fasten's E'en or Bannocky Day
     Portuguese, Terça-feira Gorda
     Italian, Martedì Grasso
     Swedish, Fettisdagen
     Danish, Fastelavn
     Norwegian, Fastelavens
     Estonian, Vastlapäev
     Spanish, Martes de Carnaval
     German, Faschingsdienstag
     Hawaiian, Malasada Day
     Lithuanian, Uzgavenes
     Icelandic, Sprengidagur (literally, Bursting Day)
     also Pancake Day or Bursting Day, the day to eat the last of the eggs and butter in the form of some kind of fried cakes, and to eat until bursting

My Way Day -- today, determine your identity all by yourself, apart from what other people say you should be; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

National Cafe Au Lait Day

National Indian Pudding Day

National PTA Founders Day -- US

Practice Your Free Throws Day -- spread around the internet by someone who really loves basketball

Quirinalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a/k/a Feast of Fools)

Random Acts of Kindness Day -- US (unofficial, but a great idea
 
Shrove Tuesday -- Christian

Snow Ice Cream Day -- internet generated; if you want to try it, and are sure your snow is reasonably clean, add sugar, milk, a touch of vanilla, and enjoy

St. Fortchern of Trim's Day (Patron of bell-founders)

Tanis Diena -- Ancient Latvain Calendar (To honor pigs)



Anniversaries Today:

League of United Latin American Citizens (Lulac) Founded, 1929
Miami University is chartered by the State of Ohio, 1809


Birthdays Today:

Vanessa Atler, 1982
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 1981
Paris Hilton, 1981
Jerry O'Connell, 1974
Bryan White, 1974
Billie Joe Armstrong, 1972
Denise Richards, 1972
Michael Forbes, 1967
Ronald "Bell Biv" DeVoe, 1967
Michael Jordan, 1963
Lou Diamond Phillips, 1962
Richard Karn, 1959
Rene Russo, 1954
Brenda Fricker, 1945
Jim Brown, 1936
Alan Bates, 1934
Barry Humphries (Dame Edna Everage), 1934
Lee Holby, 1926
Hal Holbrook, 1925
Arthur Kennedy, 1914
Clarence Lindon “Buster” Crabbe, 1908
Red Barber, 1908
Dorothy Canfield Fisher, 1879
William Cadbury, 1867
Samuel Sidney Mcclure, 1857
Friedrich A Krupp, 1854
A. Montgomery Ward, 1844
Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec, 1781
Thomas Malthus, 1766
Arcangelo Corelli, 1653


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"A Prairie Home Companion"(Radio), 1979
BC(Comic Strip), 1958
"Madame Butterfly"(Puccini Opera), 1904
"Un Ballo in maschera"(Verdi Opera), 1859
"Siroe, re di Persia"(Handel HWV 24), 1728


Today in History:

Miles Standish is appointed the first commander of the Plymouth colony, 1621
The first volume of Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" is
published, 1776
The first ship passes through the Suez Canal, 1867
Women's suffragist Esther Morris is appointed the first female justice of the peace in the US, in South Pass City, Wyoming, 1870
Sardines are first canned, by Julius Wolff of Eastport, Maine, 1876
Madame Butterfly receives its première at La Scala in Milan, 1904
The first minimum wage law in the US takes effect, in Oregon, 1913
Johnny Weissmuller sets the 100-yard freestyle record (52.4 seconds), 1924
The first telecast of a sporting event in Japan, a baseball game, 1931
The first issue of "Newsweek" magazine is published, 1933
Vanguard 2 – The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution, 1959
Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model-T, 1972
Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match, 1996
Kosovo declares independence, 2008
In racing, Danica Patrick becomes the first woman at the Daytona 500 and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to win pole position, 2013

5 comments:

  1. It does sound like you are having fun!

    betty

    ReplyDelete
  2. Disney is not my favorite place, but the Mrs. is a Vacation club member so I must go along. We stay at Animal Kingdom, and that makes it palatable. I also like the safari ride the best. i could do it several times. I also like "Toy Story" my thumbs are numb after as I try to best my score.

    Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds like you're having the time of your life. Good for you. You work so hard all the time and now it's ME time. Excellent.

    Have a fabulous day. ☺

    ReplyDelete
  4. You never want to keep Mickey waiting.

    ReplyDelete

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