Noooo!

Okay, maybe i'm rushing to judgment here.  Maybe i need to practice being more open minded.  But gosh this looks an awful lot like one of those times when i'd have to leave my mind so open my brains would fall out.

It seems that the up until now unthinkable is going to happen -- someone out there is planning to make a sequel to It's a Wonderful Life.

A moment, please, while i regain my composure (and thank heaven it isn't a remake, which would have me apoplectic).

Again, maybe i'm rushing to judge what i don't understand, and maybe it's going to be a wonderful movie.  But, Jiminy Crickets, how do you improve upon, and have a sequel to, the best Christmas movie ever?

Especially as, in this one, George's grandson is to be shown by an angel, played by Karolyn Grimes (the original Zuzu), how much better life would be for everyone if he hadn't been born.

Now, i don't usually consider myself a Grinch, although i do get peeved about over-commercialism and trying to expand the season beyond a reasonable boundary.  This is just rubbing me the wrong way right now.

The movie is set to open in theaters in time for the holidays in 2015.

Meanwhile, the original will air twice this season (much better than in the years past when it was on daily, sometimes more than once!), on December 14 and again on Christmas Eve, both times on NBC.

It's a good thing it's going to be at least a year, it's going to probably take me that long to calm my mind and maybe give this one a shot.  And what's the worst that could happen?  The worst is that it's a bomb and forgotten almost as soon as it leaves the theaters.  It can't contaminate the joy and love and sheer greatness of the original.

Well, i'm going to go try to think of something pleasant now.


Today is:

Alligator Wrestling Day -- internet generated, and i wonder if a cat that doesn't want its meds counts?

Ashi Vanguhi -- Ancient Persian Calendar/Zoroastrian (celebration of Ashi Vanguhi, or Holy Blessing; date approximate, but always two days after a full moon around this time of year)

Automatic Toll Collection Day -- the first machine went into use on New Jersey’s Garden State Parkway on this day in 1954

Discovery Day -- Puerto Rico

Equal Opportunity Day / Dedication Day / Remembrance Day -- anniversary of the Gettysburg Address

Fete de S.A.S. le Prince Souverain -- Monaco (National Day)

Flag Day -- Brazil

Garifuna Day/Carib Settlement Day -- Belize

"Have a Bad Day" Day -- for the hidden, or not so hidden, grouch in all of us; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

International Men's Day -- Australia; Canada; Ghana; Hungary; India; Ireland; Jamaica; Malta; Singapore; South Africa; Trinidad and Tobago; United Kingdom; United States

Liberation Day -- Mali

National Carbonated Beverage with Caffeine Day

Please Maintain Your Focus Today Day -- internet generated, but a good idea

School Pride Day -- US (always on the Tuesday of American Education Week)

St. Obadiah's Day (Obadiah the Prophet)

"What Ever Happened to Gary Pucket?" Day -- internet generated, and a fun question to research

World Prematurity Day -- International (raising awareness about premature birth, the leading cause of newborn death each year, and what can be done to prevent it)

World Toilet Day -- sponsored by the World Toilet Organization (yes, really, to raise awareness of the 2.5 billion people who don't have access to proper sanitation)


Anniversaries Today:

Zion National Park is established, 1919
Women's Christian Temperance Union is founded, 1874


Birthdays Today:

McCaughey Septuplets, 1997
Kerri Strug, 1977
Jodie Foster, 1962
Meg Ryan, 1961
Calvin Klein, 1942
Ted Turner, 1938
Dick Cavett, 1936
Larry King, 1933
Roy Campanella, 1921
Indira Gandhi, 1917
Tommy Dorsey, 1905
Billy Sunday, 1862
James Garfield, 1831


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Rocky and His Friends (Rocky and Bullwinkle), 1959


Today in History:

The Council of Clermont, called by Pope Urban II to discuss sending the First Crusade to the Holy Land, begins, 1095
Rabbi Isaiah b Abraham aha-Levi Horowitz arrives in Isreal, 1621
The Jakobinen club forms in Paris, 1794
The Jay Treaty, the first US extradition treaty, is signed with Great Britain, 1794
Lewis and Clark reach the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first European Americans to cross the continent, 1805
Warsaw University is established, 1816
The St. Petersburg flood, caused by storms, kills 10,000, 1824
The second Canadian railway line, the Montreal and Lachine Railway, is opened, 1847
Lincoln delivers his Gettysburg Address, 1863
Boss Tweed is convicted, sentenced to 12 years, 1874
Carrie Nation attempts to address the US Senate, 1903
NY receives the first Marconi wireless transmission from Italy, 1911
Samuel Goldwyn and Edgar Selwyn establish Goldwyn Pictures (anybody want to guess what this eventually became?), 1916
The first issue of Time Magazine is published, with Emperor Hirohito on the cover, 1928
Télé Monte Carlo, Europe's oldest private television channel, is launched by Prince Rainier III, 1954
The first automatic toll collection machine is introduced on New Jersey's Garden State Parkway, 1954
Ford cancels the Edsel, 1959
Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean land at Oceanus Procellarum (the "Ocean of Storms") and become the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon, 1960
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel, when he meets Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and speaks before the Knesset in Jerusalem, seeking a permanent peace settlement, 1977
Lt. Gen. Maurice Baril of Canada arrives in Africa to lead a multi-national policing force in Zaire, 1996
Vincent van Gogh's Portrait of the Artist Without Beard sells at auction for $71.5 million USD, 1998
The People's Republic of China launches its first Shenzhou spacecraft, 1999
Claudia Castillo has a successful trachea transplant from stem-cell created organ, 2008
Many nations urge lower fishing rates on the Atlantic bluefin tuna; quota limits on the critically endangered fish are discussed by major fishing nations in Paris, 2010

Awww Monday: What's this for?

What's this for, mommy?  May i sleep in it?

It is kind of small for a bed, but what else is it for?

Until they learn to eat dry food, they just aren't sure what the bowls are for.


Today is:

Constitution Day -- South Africa (the 1993 Constitution, granting blacks the right to vote, was approved)

Day of Ardvi Sura (Aredvi Sura Anahita), Mother of the Stars -- Ancient Persian Calendar (date approximate)

Feast of the Virgen de Chiquinquirá -- Maracaibo, Venezuela

Hap-Dancing and Tiger-Tuning -- Fairy Calendar

Independence Day -- Morocco(1956); Western Saraha(1975)

Married to a Scorpio Support Day -- remembering those married to Scorpios (like me!) and suffering because of it, and encouraging them too hide the flow charts and assert themselves today; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

National Day -- Oman (trad.; will be observed Nov. 27)

National French Vichyssoise Day

Ned Ludd Memorial Machine-Smashing Day -- internet generated, but enjoy!  i know this first-cousin-to-a-Luddite will

Proclamation of the Republic -- Latvia (1918)

Push-Button Phone Day -- launched this day in 1963

Revolution Day -- Mexico

St. Odo of Cluny's Day (Patron of needed rain)

Total Disregard for Taste Day -- marking the debut of Howard Stern's radio show on this day in 1985

Vertieres Day -- Haiti (Army Day)

William Tell Day -- the famed apple-off-his-son's-head-shot was today in 1307



Birthdays Today:

Owen Wilson, 1968
Elizabeth Perkins, 1960
Sinbad, 1956
Katy Sagal, 1956
Wilma Mankiller, 1945
Linda Evans, 1942
Brenda Vaccaro, 1939
Mickey Mouse, 1928
Alan Shepard, Jr., 1923
John Herndon (Johnny) Mercer, 1909
Imogene Coca, 1908
George Gallup, 1901
Eugene Ormandy, 1899
Clarence Shepard Day, 1874
Dorothy Dix (Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer), 1861
Ignacy Jan Paderewski, 1860
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert, 1836
Louis-Jacques Daguerre, 1787
Sojourner Truth, 1787


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Calvin and Hobbes, 1985 (in this first strip, Calvin catches Hobbes in a tiger trap baited with a tuna sandwich)
See It Now, 1951
Steamboat Willie (a/k/a Mickey Mouse), 1928
US Uniform Time Zone Plan, 1883 (on this date, the railroads adopted the current uniform time zone plan; it wasn't legally mandated until 1918)


Today in History:

Old St. Peter's Basilica is consecrated, 326
The Japanese Emperor Kammy relocates the residence of Nara to Kioto, 794
William Tell shoots the apple off his son's head, 1307
The Holland/Zealand dikes break during a storm, resulting in thousands of deaths, 1421
The first English printed book, "Dictes & Sayengis of the Phylosophers", is published, 1477
Christopher Columbus first sights the island now known as Puerto Rico, 1493
Vasco da Gama reaches the Cape of Good Hope, 1497
The worst earthquake in Massachusetts Bay/Boston area, 1755
The first Unitarian Minister in the US is ordained in Boston, 1787
30 women meet at Mrs Silas Lee's home in Wiscasset Maine, to organize the Female Charitable Society, first woman's club in America, 1805
Mark Twain's story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County is published in the New York Saturday Press, 1865
National Woman's Christian Temperance Union organizes in Cleveland, 1874
Standard time zones are formed by railroads in the US and Canada, 1883
The first newspaper Sunday color comic strip is printed, in the NY World, 1894
Britain flies its first sea plane, 1911
Lincoln Deachey performs the first airplane loop-the-loop, over San Diego, 1913
Sigma Alpha Rho, a Jewish high school fraternity, is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1917
Release of the animated short Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, featuring the third appearances of cartoon characters Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, 1928
Off the south coast of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean, a Richter magnitude 7.2 submarine earthquake, centered on Grand Banks, breaks 12 submarine transatlantic telegraph cables and triggers a tsunami that destroys many south coast communities in the Burin Peninsula, 1929
New York City's Mad Bomber places his first bomb at a Manhattan office building used by Consolidated Edison, 1940
In the United States, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is ratified, 1993
HIP 13044 b, a planet that was formed in another galaxy, is discovered in the Helmi Stream, 2010

Overheard

If you listen you can hear some funny conversations, especially when people are on their phones and aren't paying attention to who might be listening.

"If there's that many overweight people in the world, maybe the oceans aren't rising, but the land is sinking!"

"When I want to get rid of people calling to sell me something, I ask them to come help me move furniture.  If they are selling carpet cleaning services, I ask them if they can get bloodstains out and keep their mouths shut about it.  Makes them hang up on me every time!"

"That cat!  She's so picky.  I think I'm going to give her something for Boss's Day next year!  She's earned it!"

A parent commented to a child who was yawning mightily, "You need to go to bed earlier tonight."  Responded the little girl, "It's not that I go to bed too late, it's that you wake me up too early!"

A little girl and her family were waiting for their grandmother to meet them at a restaurant.  As grandma drove up in her convertible, the child turned heads with the comment, "Here comes Grandma!  And she's topless!"

At the oil change place, one of the nice workers came in to tell a lady her oil change was done.  He listed everything they done, saying, "We changed the oil and filter, vacuumed the carpet, and checked all your fluids, your transmission and brake fluid, it's all fine."  She smiled mischievously and answered, "That's okay, I already have break fluid!" as she raised her cup of the complimentary coffee the business provides..


 
Today is:

Alascattalo Day -- Anchorage, Alaska (A salute to Alaskan humor, a parade in honor of the "alascattalo", a cross between a moose and a walrus; the longest running, shortest parade in the world, held in the alley behind Club Paris from 12:03 to 12:07 pm.  A prize is given to the smallest and ugliest float -- yes, it must be both small and ugly.  An anonymous queen will be crowned, if she has the bad sense to show up.)

Army Day -- Democratic Republic of the Congo

Birthday of Guru Nanak Dev Sahib -- Sikh

Coping With Uncertainty Day -- of uncertain origin, as it should be

Electronic Greeting Card Day -- internet generated, and of course probably started by the electronic greeting card websites

Full Beaver Moon / Full Frosty Moon
     Bonn Om Touk -- Cambodia (Water Festival continues)
     Il Full Moon Poya Day -- Sri Lanka
     Palden Lhamo Festival -- Tibet (protectress of Tibet, celebrated mostly by women)
     Loy Krathong -- Thailand (Floating of the Lamps festival; to appease the water spirits, dedicated to Mae Kongkha, Goddess of Rivers)
     Tazaugmone/Thasaung Mong Full Moon -- Myanmar (Festival of Lights begins)
     That Luang Festival -- Laos (Ventiane's most important Theravada Buddhist festival)

Guru Nanak Jayanti -- India; Nepal (birth anniversary of Guru Nanak)

Homemade Bread Day -- use the bread machine, it's fun and easy, i promise!  sponsored by the Homemade Bread Day Committee of Ann Arbor, MI, US

International Students Day -- International (meant to celebrate all students around the world, not specifically students studying in countries other than their own; anniversary of the Nazi storming and closing of the University of Prague)

John Peter Zenger Day -- marking his arrest in 1734 for libel; he continued to edit his newspaper from jail and was acquitted, an early victory for freedom of the press

National Baklava Day

National Farm Joke Day

National Unfriend Day -- all those people on Facebook you regret accepting as friends?  Jimmy Kimmel suggests you unfriend them today!

Polytechneio -- Greece (anniversary of the 1973 student protests against the junta)

Presidential Election Day -- Chile

Presidents' Day -- Marshall Islands

Public Restroom Hand Dryer Appreciation Day -- internet generated, and why?  they've been proven less sanitary, blowing germs everywhere; i will not appreciate this one

Shogi Day -- Japan (celebrating shogi, a chess-like game)

St. Elizabeth of Hungary's Day (Patron of bakers, beggars, brides, charitable societies, charitable workers, countesses, exiles, falsely accused people, hoboes, homeless people, hospitals, lace makers/lace workers, nursing homes, nursing services, people in exile, people ridiculed for their piety, tertiaries, tramps, widows; Sisters of Mercy; Teutonic Knights; Erfurt, Germany; Jaro, Philippines; against in-law problems, the death of children, toothache)

St. Hilda's Day (Patron of learning and culture)

St. Hugh of Lincoln's Day (Patron of sick children, sick people, swans)

Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day -- Czech Republic; Slovakia

Take A Hike Day -- internet generated, and some websites say it's actually "Tell Your Boss to Take a Hike Day", but i don't recommend that unless you've recently inherited a fortune or won the Lotto

Volkstrauertag -- Germany (National Day of Mourning for all victims of National Socialism and the dead of both world wars)

Winter Welcome Quadrilles and Dainty-Sixes -- Fairy Calendar

World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims -- UN

World Prematurity Day -- because one in 10 babies is born prematurely, facing a very hard start in life



Birthdays Today:

Laura Wilkinson, 1977
Daisy Fuentes, 1966
Danny DeVito, 1944
Lorne Michaels, 1944
Tom Seaver, 1944
Lauren Hutton, 1943
Martin Scorsese, 1942
Gordon Lightfoot, 1938
Rock Hudson, 1925
Lee Strassberg, 1901
Atahualpa, last Emperor of the Inca, 1502
Flavius Claudius Julianus, Roman Emperor, 331
Vespian, Roman Emperor, 9


Today in History:

Diocletian is proclaimed emperor by his soldiers, 284
England and Spain sign an anti-French covenant/treaty, 1511
Elizabeth I ascends the English throne, 1558
France and Spain sign the Peace of the Pyrenees treaty, 1659
The Church of England organizes in New England, 1785
Congress holds its first session in the still incomplete Capitol Building of Washington, D.C., 1800
The Delta Phi fraternity, America's oldest continuous social fraternity, is founded at Union College in Schenectady, New York, 1827
Ecuador and Venezuela separate from Greater Colombia, 1831
Street signs are first authorized at San Francisco intersections, 1853
David Livingstone becomes the first European to see Victoria Falls, 1855
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Slavonic March is given its première performance in Moscow, 1876
Japan and Korea sign The Eulsa Treaty, 1905
The first US dental hygienist course is formed, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, 1913
US declares the Panama Canal Zone to be neutral, 1914
Lenin defends the "temporary" removal of freedom of the press, 1917
American scientists John Bardeen and Walter Brattain observe the basic principles of the transistor, a key element for the electronics revolution of the 20th Century, 1947
Douglas Engelbart receives the patent for the first computer mouse, 1970
In Czechoslovakia, the Velvet Revolution that would overthrow the communist government begins when student protests in Prague are quelled by riot police, 1989
Brian May of the rock band Queen was appointed Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University, 2007

Define Smart

"Mom, if there was a group of people who lived in total isolation from the outside world, and they had a written historical record about their people, but it was totally false, and a person in their society was an expert on that history, would he still be considered a smart person?  I mean, someone who knew all there was to know about something that was false, had written treatises on it and studied it and taught it to others and everything, would that still be a smart person?"

Sometimes Bigger Girl's philosophical questions catch me a bit off, so i thought about this one for a few minutes before i noted that intelligence, and the ability to memorize facts, are not the same things.

"So you would say that person is smart?" she asked.

Yes, you would have to be smart to become an expert at something, able to analyze it.  Whether the facts it contains are truthful or not doesn't change whether you have intelligence.  It's a separate measure.

"Okay, I think so, too.  But what about a person who doesn't read, but can take engines apart and fix them, without even being taught how, just figuring them out for themselves?"

That's another kind of intelligence, and that person would probably be able to learn to read if he wanted to put his mind to it, i noted.

"Yeah, probably.  Anyway, i've just been thinking about the definitions of intelligence, and with that, I'm going to go do something totally frivolous and meet up with my friends to see Thor II."

Just what you need to do to rest your mind, i thought.


Today is:

Birth of the Blues Day -- birth anniversary of W.C. Handy, "Father of the Blues"

Bonn Om Touk -- Cambodia (a/k/a The Water Festival, it is Cambodia's largest party, always held for two days around the time of the full moon in November)

Button Day -- internet generated; a day to collect, or reminisce about collecting, buttons

Dagur Islenskrar tungu -- Iceland (Icelandic Language Day)

Day of Declaration of Sovereignty / Day of National Rebirth -- Estonia

Family Volunteer Day -- to get families working together to better their communities and the world

Famous San Diego Chicken Day -- a day to celebrate anyone who has ever slugged a purple dinosaur

Flag Day/Statia and America Day -- St. Eustatius

Have a Party with Your Bear Day -- no comment, it's too obvious

Hecate Night -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate; celebrated still by some Wiccans)

International Day for Tolerance - UN

Kalamazoo Russian Festival -- Kalamazoo, MI, US

National Fast Food Day -- why?

National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week -- US (remembering those who have little or nothing during the upcoming holiday celebrations, and making time to share our bounty with them; through the 24th)
      co-sponsors National Coalition for the Homeless and National Student Campaign Against Hunger & Homelessness

PCS and Homeplace Festival -- Waretown, NJ, US (a family affair with country, bluegrass, and traditional music)

St. Gertrude the Great's Day (Patron of nuns; Naples, Italy; West Indies)

St. Margaret of Scotland's Day (Patron of learning, parents of large families, queens, widows; Scotland; against the death of children)

St. Matthew the Evangelist's Day (Eastern Churches)


Anniversaries Today:

Oklahoma becomes the 46th US State, 1907


Birthdays Today:

Oksana Baiul, 1977
Lisa Bonet, 1967
Dwight Gooden, 1964
Shigeru Miyamoto, 1952
Daws Butler, 1916
Burgess Meredith, 1908
W.C. Handy, 1873
Tiberius, Roman Emperor, BC42


Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Roman Catholic Church issues the first new Universal Catechism since 1563, to address modern issues, 1992


Today in History:

The second and final revision of the Codex Justinianus is published, 534
Francisco Pizarro captures the Incan emperor Atahualpa after the victory at Cajamarca, 1532
The first colonial prison is organized, in Nantucket, Massachussetts, 1676
Kentucky becomes the first state to nullify an act of Congress, 1798
The New York Evening Post publishes its first edition, 1801
An earthquake in Missouri causes the Mississippi River to flow backwards, 1811
Missouri trader William Becknell arrives in Santa Fe, New Mexico over a route that became known as the Santa Fe Trail, 1821
Napoleon Guerin of NYC patents a cork life preserver, 1841
Fyodor Dostoevsky is sentenced to death for anti-government activities; sentence is commuted to hard labor, 1849
Amsterdam post office at Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal opens, 1856
William Bonwill patents dental mallet to impact gold into cavities, 1875
6,000 Armenians massacred by Turks in Kurdistan, 1894
Arturo Tuscanini begins conducting NY's Metropolitan Opera, 1908
US Federal Reserve System formally opens, 1914
LSD is first synthesized by Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland, 1938
UNESCO is founded, 1945
NASA launches Skylab 4 with a crew of three astronauts from Cape Canaveral, Florida for an 84-day mission, 1973
The Hoxne Hoard is discovered by metal detectorist Eric Lawes in Hoxne, Suffolk, 1992
After nearly 18 years of incarceration, the People's Republic of China releases Wei Jingsheng, a pro-democracy dissident, from jail for medical reasons, 1997
The People's Republic of China begins to implement the "Great Firewall," filters which make it impossible to connect to internet sites the government deems illegal or unhelpful to the communist ideal, 2006

Feline Friday: Keeping Cozy

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


Kida, our aging, asthmatic Siamese, isn't much of a fan of the foster kittens in the summer.

In winter, she knows where the warmth is.

We know how to stay warm!

Today is:

American Enterprise Day -- US (a project of Future Business Leaders of America, Phi Beta Lambda Chapter)

America Recycles Day -- US

Canterbury Provincial Anniversary Day -- Canterbury, New Zealand

Changeling Restitution Day -- Fairy Calendar (Goblins)

Children in Need Day -- UK and Ireland (telethon begins)

Christchurch Show Day -- Canterbury, NZ

Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day -- this reminder comes from the folks at CooksInfo.com, where they think you need to get rid of USO's (unidentified shriveled objects)

Day of the German-speaking Community of Belgium -- German-speaking Community of Belgium

Don't Try To Do Everything At Once Day -- internet generated, and a blow to us multitaskers

Ennead Feast in the House of Ra, Horus, and Osiris -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

George Spelvin Day -- date of first use, in 1886, of this name for an actor playing two roles in one play; George/Georgette Spelvin have since acted in over 10,000 roles on Broadway

I Love to Write Day -- encouraging everyone to write something, begun by John Riddle; this is the perfect time for it, really, in the middle of NaNoWriMo

Inasa Puppet Festival -- Hamamatsu, Japan (a rarity in Japan, 3 days of performances by professional puppeteers from around Japan)

King's Feast / Dynasty Day -- Belgium

National Bundt Pan Day -- yes, really, celebrating the pan itself

National Donor Sabbath Weekend -- through Sunday, an initiative to encourage people of all faiths to consider organ donation; www.organdonor.gov

National Peace Day -- Cote d'Ivoire

National Philanthropy Day® -- Association of Fundraising Professionals

National Raisin Bran Cereal Day

National Spicy Hermit Christmas Cookie Day

Pack Your Mom's Lunch Day -- in honor of all the times she packed yours; combine it with I Love to Write Day and include a note telling her how special she is

Republic Day -- Turkish Republic of North Cyprus

Republic Proclamation Day -- Brazil

Safety Razor Day -- King Gillette was granted the patent for his style of safety razor on this day in 1904, changing how men shaved each day

Salt Lake's Family Christmas Show -- Sandy, UT, US (through Sunday)

Shichi-Go-San (Shrine Visiting Day)/Seven-Five-Three Festival -- Japan (picturesque festival in which 3-year-old children of either sex, five-year-old boys, and seven-year-old girls go to shrines dressed in their best; guardian spirits are thanked for the health of the children and prayers said for their future to be equally bright)

Sing in Your Car Day -- they need a day for this?

St. Albertus Magnus' Day (Patron of medical technicians, natural sciences, philosophers, schoolchildren, scientists, students, theology students; Cincinnati, Ohio)

St. Leopold's Day (King Leopold III, Patron of dying children, large families, step-parents; Austria)
     Leopoldstag/Goose Day -- Austria (the start of the heurigen, the new wine season)

Surin Elephant Round Up -- Surin, Thailand (includes elephant football, elephant tugs-of-war, and parades; through Sunday)

Tori No Ichi -- Japan (a "rooster day" in which to wish good luck and prosperity at temple and shrine ceremonies around the country)



Birthdays Today:

Kevin Eubanks, 1957
Sam Waterston, 1940
Petula Clark, 1932
Ed Asner, 1929
Bill "C.W. McCall" Fries, 1928
Joseph Wapner, 1919
Erwin Rommel, 1891
Georgia O'Keeffe, 1887
F. William Herschel, 1738
William Pitt the Elder, 1708


Today in History:

Christopher Columbus notes the first recorded reference to tobacco, 1492
The NY General Assembly permits Jews to omit the phrase "Upon the faith of a Christian" from adjuration oaths, 1727
Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon begin surveying the Mason-Dixon Line between Pennsylvania and Maryland, 1763
The Articles of Confederation are adopted by the Continental Congress, 1777
Georgetown University, the first Catholic college in the US, opens, 1791
Zebulon Pike gets his first sight of Pike's Peak, Colorado, 1806
Isaac Pitman introduces his steno/shorthand system of writing, 1832
Union Major General Sherman burns Atlanta, Georgia, 1864
King C. Gillette patents the Gillette razor blade, 1904
The first telecast of an unscheduled event, a fire, takes place on W2XBT, in NY, 1938
In Columbus, Ohio, Dave Thomas opens the first Wendy's restaurant, 1969
Intel releases world's first commercial single-chip microprocessor, 1971
René Lévesque and the Parti Québécois take power to become the first Quebec government of the 20th century clearly in favour of independence, 1976
The Anglo-Irish Agreement is signed at Hillsborough Castle by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald, 1985
An independent State of Palestine is proclaimed by the Palestinian National Council, 1988
The first Fairtrade label, Max Havelaar, is launched in the Netherlands, 1988
Cyclone Sidr hit Bangladesh, killing an estimated 5000 people and destroyed the world's largest mangrove forest, Sundarbans, 2007

Pass the Tea

Little Girl walked downstairs while getting ready for school, and was laughing.  She's usually rather quiet in the mornings, since she's not a morning person at all (i'm the only morning person in the house).

What's so funny? i asked.

"Well, yesterday, my friend Luke was playing with my phone during our lunch break at school.  He thinks flip phones are so cute, so he was playing with it, and he put his number in.  I told him if he did that, that I would send him terrible jokes in the middle of the night, and he didn't believe me.  So last night, when I woke up to go to the bathroom, I sent him a text that said, 'How does Moses make his tea? He-brews it!' and he just texted me back and says 'Stop! You're killing me!  I have to wake up to this!'"

Good one, i told her.

"That was funny," Bigger Girl said.  "Hey, mom, I'm going to go to the school early this morning to get my math lab stuff done, but I'll be back in a jiffy and I'll scoop the litter boxes then."

"How long is a jiffy?" Little Girl asked.

"Just a bit longer than three shakes of a lamb's tail!" Bigger Girl answered on her way out.

"Ha, ha," Little Girl said, heading back upstairs to grab her P.E. clothes.  

When she came back down, i asked, isn't Luke the friend who has missed a lot of school because he's got a chronic illness?

"Well, sort of a chronic illness.  Actually, he's had to have a lot of surgeries because of some birth defects.  They weren't sure when he was born if he was a boy or a girl, and he's had to have a lot of stuff done to correct all the problems, and a lot of the other kids won't hang with him, but I think he's cool.  Anyway, if he thinks that joke was bad, wait until I tell him the rest of my jokes.  Why shouldn't you write with a broken pencil?  It's pointless!  When is a fin not a fin?  When it's a dol-phin!  What do you call a book club that's been stuck on the same book for thousands of years?"

Church! i answered.  That one i know, you've told me before.

"Yes, and everyone I tell it to laughs."

With that, we laughed our way out of the door for school, as being late isn't a laughing matter.

 

Today is:

Children's Day -- India

Day of the Colombian Woman -- Colombia

Equorum Probatio -- Ancient Roman Empire (official cavalry parade of the equites)

International Girls Day -- for info, see confidencecoalition.org

Leftover Trading Day -- internet generated; trade your leftovers for the much more interesting ones in your neighbor's fridge

Loosen up, Lighten Up Day -- to remind us of the benefits of joy and laughter, begun by Stephanie West Allen of Denver, CO, US

National Spicy Guacamole Day -- as opposed to National Guacamole Day back in September

National Pickle Day/Pickle Appreciation Day

Nativity Fast begins a/k/a Winter Lent (through Dec 24) -- Orthodox Christian

Operating Room Nurse Day -- US, but feel free to celebrate those dedicated nurses around the world

Readjustment Movement's Day -- Guinea-Bissau

Spirit of NSA Day -- members of the National Speakers Association are encouraged to focus on giving back and mentoringhttp://nsaspeaker.org/

St. Dubricus' Day (the saint who crowned King Arthur)

St. Lawrence O'Toole's Day (Patron of the Archdiocese of Dublin, Ireland)

Works Getting Into Championships -- Fairy Calendar (Gremlins)

World Diabetes Day -- UN


Anniversaries Today:

Princess Anne of the UK marries Captain Mark Phillips, 1973


Birthdays Today:

D.B. Sweeney, 1961
Condoleezza Rice, 1954
Yanni, 1954
Prince Charles, 1948
King Hussein of Jordan, 1935
McLean Stevenson, 1929
Brian Keith, 1921
Veronica Lake, 1919
Barbara Hutton, 1912
Rosemary DeCamp, 1910
Joseph McCarthy, 1909
Dick Powell, 1904
Aaron Copland, 1900
Mamie Dowd Eisenhower, 1896
Jawaharlal Nehru, 1889
Claude Monet, 1840
Robert Fulton, 1765


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Murphy Brown, 1988


Today in History:

Conquistadors from Spain under the leadership of Francisco Pizarro arrive in Cajamarca, Inca empire, 1533
Samuel Pepys reports on the first blood transfusion (between dogs), 1666
Loius Timothee is hired in Philadelphia to be the first professional librarian in the US, 1732
Captain George Vancouver is the first Englishman to enter San Francisco Bay, 1792
John Mason debuts the first horse-drawn streetcar in NYC, with a route between Prince and 14th on 4th Ave., 1832
Herman Melville publishes "Moby Dick", 1851
The St. Andrews Golf Club, in Yonkers, NY, opens with 6 holes, 1888
New York World reporter Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochrane) began her attempt to surpass fictitious journey of Jules Verne's Phileas Fogg by traveling around world in less than 80 days; She succeeded, finishing the trip in January in 72 days and 6 hours, 1889
Albert Einstein presents his quantum theory of light, 1908
The first airplane flight from the deck of a ship takes place in Norfolk, Virginia, 1910
The BBC begins radio service in the United Kingdom, 1922
The first regular UK singles chart published by the New Musical Express, 1952
NASA launches Apollo 12, the second manned mission to the surface of the Moon, 1969
After German reunification, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Poland sign a treaty confirming the Oder-Neisse line as the border between Germany and Poland, 1990
The last direct-current electrical distribution system in the United States is shut down in New York City by Con Edison, 2007

Did you know...

...that if you don't use corn syrup often, and you end up with a little left in the bottom of a bottle in the back of the pantry, and if that little bit is left there long enough, it becomes so hard it's almost impermeable to water?

Neither did i.

The water doesn't really dissolve it!

The other thing i didn't know was that it would get so hard you could barely stick a knife in it, and you could use the knife, once you jammed it in there, to lift the bottle.

Suspended like magic.

Honey doesn't do that.  If it crystalizes, just warm it up a bit, and it's fine.  This stuff becomes fossilized, like Twinkies, i guess.

This, i guess, means i need to get into the very back of the pantry closet more often and check that those things i use only every once in a while, are still good.

That's what i do with the refrigerator and freezer.  They get emptied out pretty regularly, so i can be sure there's no old bacon grazing on the moldy lettuce and that there isn't intelligent life developing in the leftovers behind the mayonnaise.

Those things that i buy to only use for one recipe, and then the rest sits forever, though, i need to get rid of or give to someone who uses it or maybe just cook more of that recipe until i use it up.

And no more corn syrup -- i don't trust any food that is supposed to pour and instead gets stiff.



Today is:

Ashura -- Islam (optional day of fasting, local observances may vary)

Ides of November -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also
     Epulum Iovis -- Festival of Feronia, Juno, Minerva, and Jupiter
     Fortuna Primigenia -- Fortune of the Firstborn

National Indian Pudding Day

National Reread Old Letters and Magazines Day -- internet generated sentimentality

Pushkar Camel Fair -- Pushkar, India (through the 17th; lots of fun for camels and their two legged friends)

Runic Half Month Nyd begins (necessity)

St. Brice of Tours' Day (Patron against stomach diseases)

St. Homobonus' Day (Patron of business people, cloth workers/garment workers/tailors, cobblers/shoemakers, merchants)

St. Stanislaus Kostka's Day (Patron of aspirants to the Oblates of Saint Joseph, last sacraments; against broken bones)

Tooth Collection Days begin -- Fairy Calendar

World Kindness Day -- promoting a more compassionate world, on the anniversary of the first  World Kindness Movement® conference
     Kindness Day UK


Anniversaries Today:
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated, 1982
The Holland Tunnel opens, 1927


Birthdays Today:

Monique Coleman, 1980
Jimmy Kimmel, 1967
Whoopi Goldberg, 1955
Chris Noth, 1954
Jean Seberg, 1938
Oskar Werner, 1922
Nathaniel Benchley, 1915
Louis Brandeis, 1856
Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850


Today in History:

English king Æthelred II orders the killing of all Danes in England, known today as the St. Brice's Day massacre, 1002
Lady Jane Grey and Bishop Cranmer are accused of high treason, 1553
Patriot revolutionary forces under Col. Ethan Allen attack Montreal, Quebec, defended by British General Guy Carleton, 1775
Benjamin Franklin says, “Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” 1789
The first US anti-slavery party, the Liberty Party, convenes in New York, 1839
James Braid first sees a demonstration of animal magnetism, which leads him to study the subject and come up with what he later calls hypnosis, 1841
The Denny Party arrives at Alki Point, becoming the first settlers of what would become Seattle, Washington, 1851
The first shipment of canned pineapple leaves Hawai'i, 1895
French cyclist Paul Cornu flies the first helicopter, 1907
Russia completes development of the AK-47, one of the first proper assault rifles, 1947
A 150-mph tropical cyclone hits the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), killing an estimated 500,000 people in one night. This is regarded as the 20th century's worst natural disaster, 1970
The Double Eagle V becomes the first hot air balloon to make it across the Pacific Ocean, 1981
Xavier Suarez is sworn in as Miami, Florida's first Cuban-born mayor, 1985
The High Court of Australia rules in Dietrich v The Queen that although there is no absolute right to have publicly funded counsel, in most circumstances a judge should grant any request for an adjournment or stay when an accused is unrepresented, 1992
In a referendum voters in Sweden decide to join the European Union, 1994
NASA announces that water has been discoved on the moon, 2009