The Joker

The whole family was riding in Jalopy (my Saturn minivan that looks like a jalopy, really) on the way back from a football game at the university.

#2 Son's phone rang, so i turned down the volume on the radio.

"Hello?  Yeah, who is this?  Joseph?  Wait, I don't know any Joseph.  Wait, what?  Meet you?  Meet you where?  But, I don't know any...Mike!  Oh, c'mon man!  Oh, okay, as soon as we get home I'll come over to Craig's house.  Yeah, my brother's here, we were at the game.  We'll be over soon"

That was Mike-Next-Door? i asked.

"Yeah, yeah, he does that.  He's great at disguising his voice, and he prank calls people, pretending to be all different names."

"He is great at disguising his voice and pulling that stuff," #1 Son added.  "One time, he called Brennan and told him, 'Hey, I found this phone here at the Junior College, and I don't know who it belongs to.'  When Brennan told him that it belonged to a guy named Mike, he said, 'Well, this Mike guy has you listed under My Sweetheart.  Are you two guys lovers or something?' and it had Brennan freaking out until he realized it really was Mike making the call!"

So, Mike-Next-Door is a prankster with the phone.  While i didn't know that, i'm glad i do now, because forewarned is fore armed.   It's doubtful he would try anything like that on me, as i pay him to mow our lawn twice a month and he loves his mowing business.   It's still good to know.

And to laugh about -- i knew there was another reason to like him, he's got a sense of humor.



Today is:

Feast of Honor for Lada and Lela -- Slavic Pagan/Asatru (harvest festival, a holiday of bread and farewell to summer)

Feast of 'Izzat(Might) -- Baha'i

Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin -- Catholic Christian; related observances
     Jum il-Vittorja -- Malta (Feast of Our Lady of Victories)
     Matki Boskiej Zielnej -- Poland (Feast of Greenery, also harvest celebration)
     Public Holiday -- Liechteinstein
     Virgen de la Victoria -- Spain

Giostra Della Quintana -- Foligno, Italy (revival of a 17th-century jousting tournament, with 600 knights in full armor)

Grandparents' Day -- US (but if you have fabulous grands in your family, feel free to observe anywhere)

Great Procession of Tournai -- Tournai, Belgium (religious procession held since 1092, in thanksgiving for deliverance from the plague)

Hari Taika (Teej) -- Nepal (special holiday for Female Employees Only, to celebrate a special, traditional women's festival)

Homesteader Harvest Festival -- Brandon, SD, US (re-creation of the harvest in the pioneer days)

Hug Your Hound Day -- to increase awareness of human- and dog-friendly urban spaces

Independence Day -- Macedonia

International Literacy Day -- UN

Kosrae Liberation Day -- Micronesia

La Vierge de Meritxell -- Andorra (Feast of Our Lady of Meritxell, a National Day and official flag day)

National Date Nut Bread Day

Navy Day -- Pakistan

Pardon Me Day -- anniversary of the 1974 pardon of Nixon

Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses Day

Pet Memorial Day -- US, but everyone who has ever lost a pet, feel free to observe

St. Adrian's Day (Patron of arms dealers, butchers, prison guards, soldiers; against plague)

St. Elizabeth's Day (Orthodox Churches; Mother of John the Baptist; Patron of expectant mothers; Fulda, Germany)

Wakes Sunday -- Abbots Bromely, England

World Physical Therapy Day


Birthdays Today:

Frankie Avalon, 1940
Guitar Shorty, 1939
Patsy Cline, 1932
Peter Sellers, 1925
Sid Caesar, 1922
Claude Pepper, 1900
Antonin Leopold Dvorak, 1841
Richard I (Lionheart), 1157


Today in History:

The Statute of Kalisz, guaranteeing Jews safety and personal liberties and giving battei din jurisdiction over Jewish matters, is promulgated by Boleslaus the Pious, Duke of Greater Poland, 1264
Michaelangelo's David is unveiled in Florence, 1504
St. Augustine, FL, becomes the first permanent European settlement of the New World, 1565
The US "Pledge of Allegiance" makes its first appearance in print, in the Youth's Companion, 1892
Galveston, TX, is struck by a hurricane and tidal surge that kill 6,000, 1900
First appearance of the comic strip "Blondie", 1930
3M begins marketing Scotch transparent tape, 1930
The original Star Trek series premiers, 1966
The Beatles perform their new hit "Hey Jude" as their last live TV performance on the David Frost show, 1968
Chinese athlete Wang Junxia sets a new women's 10,000 m world record of 29:31.78, breaking the former record by 42 seconds, 1993
Two EMERCOM Il-76 aircraft land at a disaster aid staging area at Little Rock Air Force Base; the first time Russia has flown such a mission to North America, 2005