Work or Play?

Labor Day, shmabor day!
What a dumb day!
You hire some jerk,
Then send him away,
To celebrate work,
By playing all day! ~ Garfield the Cat

While i may not agree with his assessment of the importance of Labor Day, Garfield is right in that this weekend has become a time for play, as evidenced by the following celebrations that always occur on this weekend around the US*:

Benton Neighbor Day -- Benton, MO
Britt Draft Horse Show -- Britt, IA
Bumbershoot: Seattle's Music & Arts Festival -- Seattle, WA
Cal Farley's Boys Ranch Rodeo -- Boys Ranch, TX
Central City Rock 'n' Roll Cruise-in & Concert -- Central City, KY
Cleveland National Air Show -- Cleveland, OH
Clothesline Fair -- Prairie Grove, AR
Colombia River Cross Channel Swim -- Hood River, OR
Commonwheel Labor Day Weekend ARts and Crafts Festival -- Manitou Springs, CO
Daniel Boone Pioneer Days -- Winchester, KY
Fort Bridger Rendezvous -- Fort Bridger, WY
Great Bathtub Race -- Nome, AK
Great Grove Bed Race -- Coconut Grove, FL
Harvest Wine Celebration -- Livermore, CA
Hog Capital of the World Festival -- Kewanee, IL
Hoisington Celebration -- Hoisington, KS
Iroquois Arts Festival -- Howes Cave, NY
Johnson City Field Days -- Johnson City, NY
Jubilee Days Festival -- Zion, IL
Lifelight Outdoor Music Festival -- Worthing, SD
Mackinac Bridge Walk -- St. Ignace, MI
National Championship Chuckwagon Races -- Clinton, AR
National Hard Crab Derby and Fair -- Crisfield, MD
Oatmeal Festival -- Bertram/Oatmeal, TX
Odyssey - A Greek Festival -- Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church, Orange, CT
On the Waterfront -- Rockford, IL
Oregon Trail Rodeo -- Hastings, NE
Payson Golden Onion Days -- Payson, UT
Pennsylvania Arts & Crafts Colonial Festival -- Greensburg, PA
Santa-Cali-Gon Days Festival -- Independence, MO
Scandinavian Fest -- Budd Lake, NJ
Sta-Bil Nationals Championship Lawn Mower Race -- Delaware, OH
Taste of Colorado -- Denver, CO
Taste of Madison -- Madison, WI
Totah Festival -- Farmington, NM
West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival -- Clarksburg, WV
Westfest Czech Heritage Festival -- West, TX
Wisconsin State Cow-Chip Throw -- Prairie du Sac, WI
Woodstock Fair -- Woodstock, CT
World Championship Barbecue Goat Cook-Off and Arts & Crafts Fair -- Brady, TX

*Note: Some only occur on one, two, or three days of the traditional 4 day weekend.


Today is:

Bison-Ten-Yell Day

Blackpool Lighting -- The Promenade, Blackpool, Lancashire, England (five miles of spectacular lighting; through Nov. 6)

Celtic Tree Month Muin (Vine) begins

Coughing and Spluttering Convention -- Fairy Calendar

Feast of Osiris -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar

Freddy Mercury's Montreaux Memorial -- Montreaux, Switzerland (annual tribute to the work of Freddie Mercury; through the 4th)

Independence Day -- Vietnam

National Blueberry Popsicle Day

National Folk Festival -- Nashville, TN (73rd annual, awarded to Nashville through 2013, a 3 day festival celebrating the arts)

Paryushana Parva -- Jain (through the 10th)

Sedantag -- Germany

St. Agricola of Avignon's Day (patron of rain -- for or against, whichever you need! -- against bad luck)

St. Sulien's Day

VJ Day -- Surrender Ceremony took place on this date aboard the USS Missouri


Birthdays Today:

Lennox Lewis, 1965
Keanu Reeves, 1964
Jimmy Connors, 1952
Mark Harmon, 1951
Christa McAuliffe, 1948
Terry Bradshaw, 1948
Cleveland Amory, 1917
Lili'uokalani, 1838


Today in History:

Cicero's first Philippic (oratorical attack) on Marc Antony, BC44
Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Egypt declares her son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion, BC44
Octavian's troops win the Battle of Actium which ends the Final war of the Roman Republic, BC31
The Great Fire of London breaks out and burns for three days; it ends with 8 dead and 13,000 houses destroyed, 1666
Great Britain adopts the Gregorian calendar, nearly two centuries later than most of Western Europe, 1752
US Treasury Dept. is established by Congress, 1789
The solar super storm continues to affect electrical telegraph service, 1859
Theodore Roosevelt advises the US to "Speak softly, and carry a big stick." 1901
President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam becomes the first foreign head of state to make a state visit to Australia, 1957
The Principality of Sealand is established, ruled by Prince Paddy Roy Bates, 1967
Swissair Flight 111 crashes near Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia; all 229 people on board are killed, 1998