Feline Friday: How to spend the afternoon.

Feline Friday was started by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats.

So, if you are a cat, what's the best way to spend the afternoon?

Like this:

Just like this.

Laid out, upside down, chilling, in front of the refrigerator, of course.

This does two things.  First, it makes sure mom can't mop right here, because we don't like it when mom mops, it makes the floor wet.  Second, it makes sure you are the first to know when the fridge is open so you can try to either sneak or beg something yummy!

Yes, this is how many of the kittens spend a lot of their time.

Today is

Avon Heritage Duct Tape Festival -- Avon, OH, US (everything wacky and wonderful about duct tape is celebrated in the Duct Tape Capital of the World, home of the Duck brand of duct tape; through Sunday)

Banana Split Festival -- Wilmington, OH, US (through tomorrow, in the city claiming to be the birthplace of the banana split)

Bell Tower Festival -- Jefferson, IA, US (shows, entertainment, parade, and more all in the shadow of the Mahanay Memorial Bell Tower; through tomorrow)

Blame Someone Else Day -- the first Friday the 13th of the year is a day you get a free pass to blame someone else

Chicago Blues Festival -- Chicago, IL, US (the largest free blues festival in the world; through Sunday)

Coal Miner Days -- Sparwood, BC, Canada (festival and fun! through Sunday)

Day of the Living Children of Nut -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Dulcimer Days -- Coshocton, Ohio, US (enjoy the restored 19th Century Roscoe Village and the charming music of dulcimers; through Sunday)

Feast of Epona -- Ancient Celtic Calendar (Rhiannon in Wales, Macha in Ireland, guardian goddess of horses, stables, horse owners, agriculture, and transportation; date approximate, and disputed, she was the only Celtic goddess worshiped by the Romans, and they celebrated her on December 18)

Fes Musiques Sacrees du Monde -- Fez, Morocco (Fez Festival of World Sacred Music, with all types of sacred music featured, from Spanish gypsy laments to Sufi chanting and everything between; through the 21st)

First-in-Line and Queue-Jumping Tournament -- Fairy Calendar

Goettafest -- MainStrasse Village, Covington, KY, US (a celebration of goetta, a favorite regional food, plus entertainment, and arts and crafts; through Sunday)

Huck Finn's Jubilee -- Mojave Narrows Regional Park, Victorville, CA, US (river-raft building, country and bluegrass music, an old-time tent circus, and more; through Sunday)

Ides of June -- Ancient Roman Calendar; related observances:
     Festival of Jupiter Invictus (Jupiter the Unconquered)
     Lesser Quinquartrus/Quinquatrus Minusculae (festival for those who played flutes at religious ceremonies; through the 15th)

Kitchen Klutzes of America Day

Lailat al-Bara'ah (Shab Barat) -- Islam (Night of Forgiveness, a preparation for Ramadan; begins at sunset, local custom dates may vary)

Lord Buddha's Parinirvana -- Bhutan

National Day of Prayer for Law Enforcement Officers -- on the second Friday of June, sponsored the last couple of years by Wives Behind the Badge

Old Fort Days and Billy the Kid Tombstone Race -- Fort Sumner, NM, US (fun for all, including a rodeo, dance, demonstrations by Native Americans, and, on Saturday, the finale, a race through an obstacle course carrying an 80lb tombstone!)

Queen's Birthday -- Solomon Islands

Roller Coaster Day -- the world's first "Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway", patented by LaMarcus Thompson, opened on this day in 1884 on Coney Island, at a cost of five cents per ride

Sewing Machine Day -- why this day is anyone's guess, but we must admit it's a useful invention

St. Anthony of Padua's Day, the "Hammer of Heretics" (Patron of amputees, animals, asses, boatmen, domestic animals, elderly people, expectant mothers, faith, fishermen, harvests, horses, mail, mariners, Native Americans, oppressed people, paupers, poor people, sailors, seeksers of lost objects, starving people, swineherds, Tigua Indians, travel hostesses, travellers, watermen; Amantea, Italy; Anzio, Italy; Brazil; Cianciana, Italy; Dorado, Puerto Rico; Favara, Italy; Ferrazzano, Italy; Giano Vetusto, Italy; Lisbon, Portugal; Nocolosi, Italy; Padua, Italy; Portugal; San Antonio Tiayacapan, Mexico; San Fulgencio, Spain; Sandia Indian Pueblo; against barrenness, shipwreck, starvation, and sterility)
     a municipal holiday in Lisbon, Portugal and parts of Spain

The Strawberry Festival -- Crawfordsville, IN, US (historic Lane Place hosts three days of fun, and all the city museums are open; through Sunday)

Versailles Poultry Day -- Versailles, OH, US (fun for the whole family, with parades, 5K, and even a Miss Chick contest; through Sunday)

Weed Your Garden Day -- a reminder to get out there and do a little each day, so the little buggers don't get out of hand

Work @ Home Fathers' Day -- special kudos to the dads who work from home by telecommuting, or care for house and kids while the wife works outside the home


Anniversaries Today:

Mission San Luis Rey de Francia is founded, 1798
Martin Luther marries Katharina von Bora, 1525


Birthdays Today:

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, 1986
Raz-B, 1985
Rivers Cuomo, 1970
Jamie Walters, 1969
Ally Sheedy, 1962
Tim Allen, 1953
Richard Thomas, 1951
Ban Ki-Moon, 1944
Malcolm McDowell, 1943
Siegfried Fischbacher, 1939
Christo, 1935
Paul Lynde, 1926
Ralph Edwards, 1913
Red Grange, 1903
Dorothy L. Sayers, 1893
Basil Rathbone, 1892
William Butler Yeats, 1865
Winfield Scott, 1786


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Closer"(TV), 2005
Roadie(Film), 1980
"Les vêpres siciliennes"(Verdi opera) 1855


Today in History:

Coronation of Alexander III as King of Scots, 1249
Ibn Battuta, who was to become the foremost world traveler of his day, seeing most of the known world in his time, begins his first hadj, 1325
Rhode Island becomes the first of Britain's North American colonies to ban the importation of slaves, 1774
Mission San Luis Rey de Francia  is founded, 1798
Meriwether Lewis and four companions sight the Great Falls of the Missouri River, 1803
A fire devastates much of Vancouver, British Columbia, 1886
King Ludwig II of Bavaria is found dead in Lake Starnberg south of Munich at 11:30 PM, 1886
Yukon Territory is formed, with Dawson chosen as its capital, 1898
The University of the Philippines College of Engineering is established, the largest degree granting unit in the Philippines, 1910
Mir Mine, the first diamond mine in the USSR, is discovered, 1955
The United States Supreme Court rules in Miranda v. Arizona that the police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning them, 1966
Thurgood Marshall is nominated to become the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, 1967
Fahd becomes King of Saudi Arabia upon the death of his brother, Khalid, 1982
Pioneer 10 becomes the first man-made object to leave the solar system, 1983
President Kim Dae Jung of South Korea meets Kim Jong-il, leader of North Korea, for the beginning of the first ever inter-Korea summit, 2000
The US withdraws from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, 2002
The Al Askari Mosque is bombed for a second time, 2007
A capsule of Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa returns to Earth with particles of asteroid 25143 Itokawa, 2010
The U.S. Supreme Court invalidates gene patents held by Myriad Genetics when it rules that isolated human genes are not patentable, 2013