Secret

A bit of a secret.  Sweetie is a huge fan of the movie The Secret of NIMH.

That's why his Father's Day gift today is a new DVD player for his small TV in the man cave (the old one died after 4 years of faithful service, and will be taken to the local BestBuy for recycling), along with a copy of the movie and the sequel (both on one disc, only a few dollars at the BigBoxStore).

My Dad, Dr. Born Organized Clean, or Doc, or Grandpa, or whatever title we wish to use, will get the fried sweet breads he loves next time he comes in town or we end up down there, but his cards were put in the mail already, so he knows we didn't forget.

For all of the fathers out there, a Happy Father's Day!  May your children call, visit, or write, and if they call, may it not be collect.

(Several years ago, in the dinosaur ages when there were no cell phones and long distance charges weren't so cheap, i read that the biggest number of collect calls in the US were always made on Father's Day, and that always bothered me.)


Today is

Bloomsday -- commemoration of James Joyce and his novel, Ulysses

Bunker Hill Day -- Suffolk County, MA, US (parade date)

Day of Third-Hand Reports and Shaky Evidence -- Fairy Calendar

Father's Day -- El Salvador; Guatemala; Puerto Rico; US

Festival of Ludi Piscatari -- Ancient Roman Calendar (festival for fishermen; some sites say it was on the 17th)

Fresh Veggies Day -- before you have that fudge later

Husband Caregiver Day -- to honor husbands who give health care to family members (wives, children, or extended family)

International Day of the African Child -- Organisation of African Unity

Martyrdom Day of Guru Arjan Dev -- Sikh

National Fudge Day

National Morticians Day -- honoring the last people to ever let you down

National Vinegar Day

St. Benno's Day (Patron of anglers, fishermen, weavers; Dresden-Meissen, Germany; Munich, Germany)

St. John-Francis Regis' Day (Patron of embroiderers, lace makers, social workers; Sisters of Saint Francis Regis; against plague)

Sussex Day -- West Sussex, England (on St. Richard's Day as celebrated in this area [current feast day is April 3 elsewhere]; he was Bishop of Chichester from 1245 to 1253, and his shrine was an important pilgrimage site)

Youth Day -- South Africa


Birthdays Today:

Diana DeGarmo, 1987
Phil Mickelson, 1970
Joan Van Ark, 1943
Joyce Carol Oates, 1938
Erich Segal, 1937
Stan Laurel, 1890
Geronimo, 1829


Today in History:

The Zoroastrian Religious Calendar begins with the ascension of Yasdegerd III of Persia, the start of the Persian Era, 632
Battle of Stoke Field, the final engagement of the Wars of the Roses, 1487
British troops take Cape Breton Island, which is now part of Nova Scotia, Canada, 1745
The French surrender Fort Beauséjour to the British, leading to the expulsion of the Acadians, 1755
Abraham Lincoln delivers his House Divided speech in Springfield, Illinois, 1858
The Victoria Hall theatre panic in Sunderland, England kills 183 children, 1883
John Abbott becomes Canada's third prime minister, 1891
The Ford Motor Company is incorporated, 1903
The storming of the cockpit of the Miss Macao passenger seaplane, operated by a subsidiary of the Cathay Pacific Airways, marks the first aircraft hijacking of a commercial plane, 1948
Rudolf Nureyev defects at Le Bourget airport in Paris, 1961
Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space, 1963
The largest single-site hydro-electric power project in Canada starts at Churchill Falls, Labrador, 1972
Soweto uprising: a non-violent march by 15,000 students in Soweto, South Africa turns into days of rioting when police open fire on the crowd and kill 566 children, 1976
Israel complies with UN Security Council Resolution 425 after 22 years of its issuance, which calls on Israel to completely withdraw from Lebanon, 2000
The 9/11 Commission, contradicting White House claims, determines Saddam Hussein had no strong ties to al-Qaeda, 2004
British Petroleum agrees to finanace a $20 billion fund to compensate those whose livelihood was damaged by the Deepwater Horizon disaster, 2010
Prince Harry of Wales is cleared to return to active duty in the Afghan War, 2011