Silly Sunday: Pancakes are coming.

"Mom, I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to be making lots of pancakes for Mardi Gras," #2 Son announced.

That's fine, i noted.  We have plenty of Nutella and everything else.

When Mardi Gras comes around, in our house it always means the hot dogs wrapped in biscuit dough and baked, and pancakes.  The tradition of Mardi Gras being Pancake Day stems from pancakes being the easiest way to use up the last of the sugar and egg and butter and milk before the Lent fast begins on Ash Wednesday.

Of course, #2 Son's pancakes aren't just any.  He doesn't use premade mix of any sort, and his are always chocolatey and good.

Talking about pancakes reminds me of a joke.

Clothile was busy on Fat Tuesday morning making the pancakes, the last the family would have until Easter.  Tee Boudreaux and Placide Boudreaux, her two boys, were sitting at the table arguing over who was going to get the first pancake out of the pan.

"Mais, boys, you ought to be both ashamed of yourselves, sure.  Here we are, about to start observing de time dat Our Lord was in the desert fasting, so we can learn about self-discipline and obedience, and you two be arguin' over who get de firs' pancake!  If Jesus was here, He'd say, 'Let my brother have de firs' pancake!'"

Tee and Placide look at her, and den at each other, and den Tee, he say, "Placide, today, you play Jesus!"



Today is:

Adwa Victory Day -- Ethiopia

Argungu Fishing and Cultural Festival -- Argungu, Nigeria (a wild fishing contest, plus singing, dancing canoe racing, and more; through the 5th)

Carnival of Binche -- Binche, Belgium (famous carnival dating back to the 16th century, which includes a giants parade, children's parade, fireworks, orange tossing, and more; through Shrove Tuesday)

Celebrate Your Name Week -- Sunday:  Namesake Day, a day to think about how you got your name

Cheesefare Sunday -- Orthodox Christian (final day upon which dairy products and eggs may be consumed before the Lenten fast; sometimes also called Forgiveness Sunday)

Fasching Sunday -- Germany and Austria, and among German speaking peoples; the Party before Lent kicks up now

Feast of 'Ala (Loftiness) -- Baha'i (first full day of the 19 day fast)

Feast of Tou Tei -- Macau (earth god; celebrated on the second day of the second lunar month, so if i've mixed up the date in Gregorian, i'm sorry, i tried)

Going Forth of Set, Son of Nut -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Hall Sunday -- meaning Hallowed Sunday, the Sunday before Lent, which has many traditions associated with it

Highway Numbers Day -- US (a joint board of state and federal highway officials created the first uniform system for numbering interstate highways, as well as standardizing design of road signs, in 1925)

James Ronald Webster's Birthday -- Anguilla

Losar/Loshar (Lunar New Year) -- Bhutan; Nepal; Tibet (this is Tibetan Year 2141, and it's dominant gender is male, dominant element is wood, and dominant animal is the horse)

March Nymph's Parade -- Fairy Calendar

National Banana Cream Pie Day

National Words Matter Week -- US (focusing on the importance of words, particularly the written word; week sponsored by The National Association of Independent Writers and Editors)

NEA's Read Across America Day -- on or near Dr. Seuss' birth anniversary; this year's theme is "Grab Your Hat and Read with the Cat"

Old Stuff Day -- if you are doing the same old stuff, think about how you can change that

Peasants' Day -- Myanmar

St. Chad of Mead's Day (Patron of St. Chad's College of the University of Durham in England; Birmingham, England; Lichfield, England)

Texas Independence Day -- Texas, US (anniversary of declaration of independence from Mexico in 1836)

Transfiguration Sunday -- Christian


Anniversary Today:

Mt. Rainier National Park is established, 1899


Birthdays Today:

Henrik Lundquist, 1982
Bryce Dallas Howard, 1981
Chris Martin, 1977
Daniel Craig, 1968
Jon Bon Jovi, 1962
Ken Salazar, 1955
Laraine Newman, 1952
Karen Carpenter, 1950
Eddie Money, 1949
Lou Reed, 1944
John Irving, 1942
Mikhail Gorbachev, 1931
Tom Wolfe, 1931
John Cullum, 1930
Doc Watson, 1923
Jennifer Jones, 1919
Desi Arnaz, 1917
Martin Ritt, 1914
Mel Ott, 1909
Theodore Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss), 1904
Bedrich Smetana, 1864
Carl Schurz, 1829
Melissa Burton Coray, 1828
Sam Houston, 1793
Juvenal, 54


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Bubbling Brown Sugar"(Musical), 1976
"The Sound of Music"(Film), 1965
"Bus Stop"(Play), 1955
"King Kong"(Film), 1933
"Morning Chronicle"(London daily newspaper), 1769


Today in History:

The Loves of Mars and Venus becomes the first ballet performed in England, 1717
A semaphore machine that will speed communication is introduced in Paris, 1791
The US Congress outlaws the import of slaves, 1897
The Republic of Texas declares its independence from Mexico, 1836
Aleksandr Romanov becomes the tsar of Russia, 1855
Tsar Aleksandr outlaws serfdom in Russia, 1861
The Convention of Constantinople is signed, guaranteeing free maritime passage through the Suez Canal during war and peace, 1888
In New York City the Martha Washington Hotel opens, becoming the first hotel exclusively for women, 1903
The original film version of King Kong premiers, 1933
Captain James Gallagher lands his B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II in Fort Worth, Texas after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight in 94 hours and one minute, 1949
The first automatic street light is installed in New Milford, Connecticut, 1949
In Toulouse, France the first test flight of the Anglo-French Concorde is conducted, 1969
Rhodesia declares itself a republic, breaking its last links with the British crown, 1970
The Pioneer 10 space probe is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a mission to explore the outer planets, 1972
Czech Vladimír Remek becomes the first non-Russian or non-American to go into space, when he is launched aboard Soyuz 28, 1978
CD players and discs are released for sale for the first time outside of Japan, 1983
Twelve European Community nations agree to ban the production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of the century, 1989
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, San Marino, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan join the United Nations, 1992
Data sent from the Galileo spacecraft indicates that Jupiter's moon Europa has a liquid ocean under a thick crust of ice, 1998
In his book 'Jesus of Nazareth Part II', Pope Benedict XVI exonerates the Jewish people for the responsibility of the death of Jesus, 2011
New findings from the University of Leicester indicate decreasing sitting time by 90 minutes each day can result in major heath advantages, including reducing the risk of Type II Diabetes, 2013