A Little Smackerel of Something (Feline Friday) and Friendly Fill-Ins

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both.  If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.) 

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

He has handed hosting duties off to Sandee, of Comedy Plus, and it's simple to join, just follow the link to Sandee's page for the rules and the code.

Mikey wants everyone to know he is hungry.  Mikey is always hungry, in case you were wondering.

Mikey, doing his usual lying down and pulling the food to him trick.  He's not only always hungry, he's lazy.

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Friendly Fill-Ins are easy to do. There are four statements: the first two statements are provided by Ellen of 15AndMeowing, and the final two are offered by Lorianne The Menagerie Mom of Four-Legged Furballs. They try to make sure the statements will be fun to both answer and share. The linky will be posted at or about 12:00 AM on Friday. Please head over to one of their sites, link up, and share your thoughts!      

Here are this week's statements with my responses underlined:

1. _______________________ is an awful _______________________.

2.  I always read __________________________ sections of the newspaper.

3. Black cats _________.

4. _________ is my favorite treat.

1. Without a plan or enough saved is an awful way to retire.  We thought we’d have enough, and maybe we will someday, but it won’t be very soon.

2. I always read the comics, puzzles, and advice columns sections of the newspaper, as well as the headlines and some of the business news.

3. Black cats are wonderful.  When i was a child we had two of them that the family named Midnight and Shadow — yes, i know, not really original.  They were such loving cats.  A couple of years ago we lost Badlands Blackie, Little Girlie’s brother.  We’ve never met a black cat we didn’t like.

4.  Coconut milk (vegan) ice cream is my favorite treat.

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Today is:

Angam Day -- Nauru ("Day of Fulfillment"; a celebration of overcoming hardships)

Armed Forces Day -- Benin

Chili Cook-Off -- Washington, MO US (chili fest and contest)

Day of the Ancients -- Asatru/Pagan Slavic Calendar

Day of Mourning -- Libya

Exaltation of the Shellfish -- Pontevedra, Spain (can confirm they celebrate this each year, cannot find confirmation on this specific date)

Frankenstein Friday -- a day to celebrate the "mother" and "father" of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley and Boris Karloff

French Food Festival -- LaRose, LA, US (local specialties, dancing, music, and fun; through Sunday)

London Bridge Days -- Lake Havasu City, AZ, US (come celebrate London Bridge, which was disassembled and moved here and put back together, with festivities and a big parade tomorrow; through tomorrow)

Ludi Victoriae Sullanae -- Roman Empire (celebration of the victories of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, through Nov. 1)

Magal de Touba -- Touba, Senegal (commemoration of the departure into exile of Ahmadou Bamba to Gabon, a Sufi religious festival, begins at sunset)

Makoshe's Holiday -- Asatru/Pagan Slavic Calendar (honoring Mother Earth)

Mokosh Day -- Ukraine (Slavic goddess of "women's work", a wanderer and spinner, still popular as a life giving force and protector of women, always assoociated with Friday; date approximate)

Mule Day -- anniversary of the first importation of donkeys to the US, which George Washington used to breed the first mules in the Americas

National Bandanna Day -- Australia (to raise funds for teens with cancer)       

National Day -- Austria

National Gospel Day -- Cook Islands

National Mincemeat Pie Day

Pretzel Day

Pumpkin Day -- time to get one for the 31st, if you haven't already

Sea Witch Halloween & Fiddler's Festival -- Rehoboth Beach/Dewey Beach, DE, US (parade, costume contest, Sea Witch Hunt, horse show on the beach, and more; through Sunday)

St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki's Day (Patron of soldiers; Thessaloniki, Greece)

    Greek day to broach the wine barrels and taste the new season's wine in honor of this saint

Sts. Lucian and Marcian's Day (Patrons of converts, possessed people)

Toping Wagglegammon -- Fairy Calendar (no human knows what this means, but it sounds intriguing)

Workaholic Stop and Smell Something Day -- internet generated day to encourage workaholics to stop and consider what they might be missing

Worldwide Howl at the Moon Night -- some organizers even have howling parties

Anniversary Today:

Grand opening of the Erie Canal, 1825

Birthdays Today:

Sasha Cohen, 1984

Keith Urban, 1969

Tom Cavanagh, 1968

Natalie Merchant, 1963

Cary Elwes, 1962

Dylon McDermott, 1962

Jeff Probst, 1962

James Pickens, Jr., 1954

Lauren Tewes, 1954

Hillary Rodham Clinton, 1947

Pat Sajak, 1947

Jaclyn Smith, 1947

Ivan Reitman, 1946

Pat Conroy, 1945

Bob Hoskins, 1942

Jackie Coogan, 1914

Mahalia Jackson, 1911

Abby Greene Aldrich Rockefeller, 1874

Joseph Hansom, 1803

Georges Danton, 1759

Domenico Scarlatti, 1685

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"St. Elsewhere"(TV), 1982

Doonesbury(Comic strip), 1970

The Village Voice(newspaper, first issue), 1955

"Mourning Becomes Electra"(Play), 1931

Today in History:

Comet 55P/1366 U1 (Tempel-Tuttle) approaches 0.0229 AUs of Earth (2.1 million miles and 3.4 million kilometers)--marking the third closest approach of any comet to our planet in recorded history, 1366

First use of lead pencils, 1492

William Penn accepts the area around the the Delaware River from the Duke of York, 1682

The first Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia, and the Minute Men begin to organize in the colonies, 1774

King George III goes before Parliament to declare the American colonies in rebellion, and authorized a military response to quell the American Revolution, 1775

Benjamin Franklin departs from America for France on a mission to seek French support for the American Revolution, 1776

The first of the "Federalist Papers" are published, calling for ratification of the US Constitution, 1787

The French Directory, a five-man revolutionary government, is created, 1795

Hamilton Smith patents a rotary washing machine, 1858

Soccer football rules are standardized and rugby starts as a separate game, 1863

The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral takes place at Tombstone, Arizona, 1881

First use of a "getaway car" after a robbery in Paris, 1901

The first Soviet (worker's council) formed, St. Petersburg, Russia, 1905

Margaret Sanger arrested for the obscenity of advocating birth control, 1916

The Maharaja of Kashmir agrees to allow his kingdom to join India, 1947

Mother Teresa founds her Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, 1950

Pan American Airways makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York City to Paris, France, 1958

The world sees the far side of the Moon for the first time, in pictures taken earlier in the month by the Soviet Luna 3, 1959

The last natural case of smallpox is discovered in Merca district, Somalia, 1977

"Baby Fae," born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, receives a controversial heart transplant from a baboon, dies of kidney infection 21 days later, 1984

The Charlottetown Accord fails to win majority support in a Canada wide referendum, 1992

Jordan and Israel sign a peace treaty, 1994

Britain's House of Lords votes to end the right of hereditary peers to vote in Britain's upper chamber of Parliament, 1999

The water level at Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest water control and utilization project, reaches full capacity, 2010

China blocks the New York Times from searches and social media in response to an investigation into Premier Wen Jiabao, 2012

The World Health Organization classifies processed meat as carcinogenic, 2015