It is Sunday, February 21 and there are only 308 days until Christmas.  Based on the way retailers have been pushing seasons, the stores should have their decorations up soon.  Today we remember the birthdays of Christoph Stoltzenberg, Eduard Rappoldi and Pierre Mercure.  On this day in 1431 England began the trial of Joan of Arc, in 1846 Sarah G Bagley became the first woman telegrapher 

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.--- --- -…  … .- .-. .- ….) and in 1972 Richard Nixon became the first US President to visit China.  In Bangladesh it is Bangladesh Martyrs Day/National Mourning Day and world wide it is Brotherhood Day.

I apologize that I do not really have anything this week.  Things have been a little busy and I just have not had the opportunity to observe the crazies.  I will admit that there were a couple items I wanted to bring up, but I did not write them down and now they have escaped my mind.  The lovely Elaine has always said that she does not want to learn and remember new things.  She reasons that there is only so much brain capacity available.  That means that if something new comes in something old might go out. She is concerned that the old item might be something like how to breathe or when to use the bathroom.  I have no proof that she is right, but I have no proof that she is wrong.

I was going to say that there were no interesting holidays to talk about, but I decided to do some research.  I have come up with some that I think we should all observe.  There are a couple we missed but are worth mentioning for next year.  Specifically, February 5 was National Shower with a Friend Day and February 18 was National Drink Wine Day.  We actually did drink wine on the 18^th, but were unaware that we were celebrating.  We just thought we were having wine.  Coming up tomorrow is National Margarita Day.  I think I will make a point of observing that one. 

 

For those of you who like to plan ahead, here are some good days coming up in March.  On 3/4 it is Nat’l Pound Cake Day, 3/6 is Nat’l Oreo Cookie Day, 3/8 is Nat’l Pancake Day, 3/9 is Nat’l Meatball Day, 3/13 is Nat’l Open an Umbrella Indoors Day, 3/14 is Nat’l Napping Day (a new favorite of mine), 3/19 Nat’l Chocolate Caramel Day (another new favorite) and on 3/23 Nat’l Chip and Dip Day.  So now you can be prepared and not miss the celebrations.

In the future, I will try to remember how I found this site so that I can alert you to upcoming national days.  But, to quote my older grandson, “I’m not making any promises.”

This week our fact tells us that America’s first nudist organization was founded in 1929 by three men.  Go figure!  Three men started an organization to get people to walk around nude.  They claimed it was healthy.  We all know they just used it as an excuse to see women naked.

It is Sunday, February 14.  Happy Valentine’s Day!  This is the only day when it is okay to walk around with a heart on.  I know.  I use that every year but I don’t think it ever gets old.  The lovely Elaine would disagree.  Anyway, today we remember the birthdays of Johann Pistorius, Richard Allen and Thelma Ritter.  On this day in 1848 James Polk became the first president photographed in office, in 1883 the first state labor union legislation was passed; New Jersey legalized unions and in 1971 the movie “Ben Hur” was shown on TV for the first time.  In Arizona and Oregon it is Admission Day, in Bulgaria it is Viticulturists’ Day and worldwide it is St Valentine’s Day.

As has always been my practice, I continue to try and offer you more information for your Useless Information file regarding Valentine’s Day.  I try not to duplicate stuff from past years, but if I do, sorry.

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl–possibly his jailer’s daughter–who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today.

St. Valentine has wide-ranging spiritual responsibilities. People call on him to watch over the lives of lovers, of course, but also for interventions regarding beekeeping and epilepsy, as well as the plague, fainting and traveling.

The medieval English poet Geoffrey Chaucer often took liberties with history, placing his poetic characters into fictitious historical contexts that he represented as real.  No record exists of romantic celebrations on Valentine’s Day prior to a poem Chaucer wrote around 1375. In his work “Parliament of Foules,” he links a tradition of courtly love with the celebration of St. Valentine’s feast day–an association that didn’t exist until after his poem received widespread attention.  The poem refers to February 14 as the day birds (and humans) come together to find a mate.  When Chaucer wrote, “For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne’s day / Whan every foul cometh ther to choose his mate,” he may have invented the holiday we know today.

So now that I have given you the latest on Valentine’s Day, let’s move on to another important holiday. We saw earlier that today is also Viticulturists’ Day in Bulgaria so, the question is what is a Viticulturist?  Viticulturists plan, supervise and coordinate the growing of selected grape varieties for the production of wine.  I don’t know about you but I have been celebrating these people for years.  I didn’t realize they had an official title.  I always just called them the wine guys.  To all Viticulturists, in Bulgaria and everywhere, thank you for your dedication to your craft.

I had the opportunity to go to the mall with the lovely Elaine the other day and thought I would mention one or two things that I noticed.  One thing I have become aware of is the scents that are in the mall.  I used to think that what we smelled was coming from a candle store or a fragrance kiosk.  Now I am not so sure.  We were walking past a men’s clothing store and were getting - the only term I can think of is - assaulted by an aroma that I would not normally associate with men’s clothing.  I paused to look around and did not see a candle shop or anyplace that would be giving off that smell.  I am wondering if the mall puts this scent out to counteract the orders that humans give off, if you know what I mean.

Another thing I noticed was that every store we passed wanted you to buy something there for your Valentine.  I have a hard time believing that my Valentine, or most Valentines, would be content with a nice pair of socks.  “Joe bought me roses and a bracelet for Valentine’s Day.  What did you get?”  “I got a nice pair of socks with pink hearts on them.”  I think the sock recipient will be back on the market in time for St Patrick’s Day.  How about buying a nice candle for your sweetie?  I certainly wouldn’t buy a candle for my sweetie.  It would hurt when she “gave” it back to me.  Aside from the lack of romance involved, most candles cause the lovely Elaine’s asthma to bother her.  We used to buy a particular candle scent that didn’t bother her asthma, but they stopped making that one.

I prefer holidays like St Patrick’s Day.  That is a day of parades, eating and drinking.  What more do you need?  How about Presidents Day?  This is a day that combined the birthdays of two presidents into one Monday holiday that most people don’t get off anymore, but we don’t have to get anyone a gift.  I generally like holidays that call for relaxing, eating and drinking.  These are the ones where all you have to worry about is what food to grill and what the viticulturists provided us with.  I think we should have at least one Eating and Drinking Monday each month so that we can celebrate without having to buy gifts.  If any of you want to start that movement, let me know.  I will support it.

This week our fact tells us that 3.9% of all women do not wear underwear.  I am not sure how anyone would know this for sure, but I am willing to do some research on it just to verify the truth.  I would hate to pass on incorrect information.

It is Sunday, February 7.  I know, where has the time gone?  we are already 1/12^th of the way through the year!  There are only 211 days until Labor Day so watch for those back to school specials.  Today we remember the birthdays of Anna Ivanova Romanova, Frederick Douglass and Eubie Blake.  On this day in 1668 Dutch Prince William III danced in the premiere of “Ballet of Peace”, in 1818 the first successful US educational magazine “Academician” began and in 1974 Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles opened in movie theaters.  In Switzerland yesterday was Homstrom, in Grenada today is Independence Day and World-wide it is Boy Scouts Day.

First let me make a point that I am pretty sure I have not made in a while.  When you look at the top of this blog it says that it was published on February 6.  I actually wait until it is Sunday, in this case February 7, to publish.  Apparently while I am publishing it here on the east coast on Sunday, it is being received on the left coast on Saturday.  You gotta love time zones.  I hope that clears up any confusion that may arise from the difference in dates.

Next, you might remember that last week I was lamenting the lack of cool holidays in the US.  Another example of that is the holiday in Switzerland – Homstrom.  One of the things that makes this interesting is that it celebrates the end of winter.  They are celebrating the end of winter on the first weekend in February!  That in itself is just a little strange.  I believe I covered this last year, but I just thought you might like a little refresher.

The "hom strom" is the famous "Straw Man of Scuol" that is set alight on the first Saturday in February every year. On that day, the boys of Scuol go from farm to farm collecting straw which they then take down to the village square. There, it is artfully tied together to make a huge straw man. Come the afternoon, "l’hom strom" is taken to Gurlaina and there set up ready for burning and carefully guarded to protect him from pranksters. At dusk, the people of Scuol parade through the village streets singing songs and once they have arrived at the Gurlaina set a light to the straw man they went to such lengths to make. This death by fire symbolizes the rapidly approaching end of winter.

Also, last week I discussed some issues I had with commercials for various drugs.  Another question came to me this week as I was confronted by more of these commercials.  Here is my question – what makes the creators of this stuff think that I will be moved to ask about their product by seeing animated organs such as the bladder and the digestive system?  I like the one where the digestive system walks along, looks in a fish tank, sits down at a table and starts to peruse a menu.  When the commercial ends the announcer says ask your doctor if such and such a drug is right for you.  Why can’t the blobby digestive system ask the doctor.  If it can read a menu, it should be able to do that.

The other issue I have with this is why should you have to ask your doctor?  If he or she is current in their field, they should know about the drug and would probably prescribe it for you if you needed it.  Would it not be reasonable to assume that if he is not suggesting it, it is because it is not right for you or you don’t need it?  If you have so little confidence in your doctor that you have to start asking him about medicines, maybe you need to change doctors.

Now how’s this for a segue – that brings me to commercials that have been showing for an insurance company.  They keep talking about how their company is better than the other ones because they don’t raise your rates when you have an accident and the others do and that you should change your company.  One or two of the commercials are good and talk about how you are hit by someone else and they take care of you.  The others are not so good and one I find a little stupid.  There are ways to get a message across, but generally I think they just miss the mark.  The one that really gets me is the one where the person is talking about all the research you do before buying a car, then it goes on to say that you smash your new car into a tree.  The commercial says that your insurance company is ready to raise your rates and maybe you should have researched the insurance company.  No!  You should have spent some time learning how to drive well enough that you could have avoided hitting the tree in the first place.

This week our fact tells us that 55,700 people in the US are injured by jewelry each year.  A good portion of those injuries are preceded by the words, “You slept with my best friend?”

It is Sunday, January 31 and there are only 141 days until the first day of summer (the real first day, not Memorial Day) so start getting ready to see pasty white chubbies on the beach.  Today we remember the birthdays of Robert Morris, Zane Grey and Tallulah Bankhead.  On this day in 876 Charles became king of Italy, in 1861 the state of Louisiana took over the US Mint at New Orleans and in 1955 RCA demonstrated the first music synthesizer.  In the Shetland Islands it is Up-Helly-Aa/Norse Fire Festival, in Nauru it is Independence Day and in Surrey England it is Dicing for Maid’s Money Day.

Why is it that we never have interesting holidays like other countries do?  Don’t you wish you could walk around wishing people a Merry Up-Helly-Aa?  And Dicing for Maid’s Money Day sounds like an interesting day.  Read on.

In the 17th century, dicing (throwing dice) for money was a favorite English pastime in which large sums of money could be won or lost.  However, the annual dicing competition that still takes place in Guildford, England, is for the relatively modest sum of 11 pounds, 19 shillings.  In 1674 a local resident named John How established a fund of 400 pounds, which in his will he said he wanted invested and the proceeds distributed each year to a local "maid" or house servant who had served faithfully in the same position for at least two years.  The will also stipulated that two servants should throw dice for the gift, and that the one who threw the highest number should receive the entire amount.  In 1702; however, another, larger fund was begun by John Parsons.  Today, whoever throws the higher number receives the How prize, which is smaller than the Parson prize, which goes to the woman who throws the lower number.  So you see, it doesn’t always pay to win.

Last week, I was complaining about stupid people.  Well, this week I saw the topper.  It started with a problem that I have complained about on a number of occasions.  It has always amazed me that people sitting at a red light don’t go when the light turns green.  The only reason you have stopped is because the light is red.  I would think that you would watch the light so that when it turned, you could get going.  Wrong again!  The other day I was on my way to a doctor’s appointment (everything was fine thank you for asking) and we were stopped at a red light.  As it turned out the person creating the problem was a young woman.

Anyway, we were sitting there and the light turned green, but we did not move.  Several people politely tapped their horns to get things going.  We did not move, so they beeped their horns a little longer.  She waved her hand out the window as if to say just a minute.  The light turned to amber and we were still not going and horns were blaring.  A police car came in the opposite direction, gave a quick toot on his siren and motioned for her to move on.  She ignored him and we all sat and watched the light turn red.  The police car went down the street, turned around, came back and had her pull over to the curb.  He seemed perturbed and she appeared oblivious.  I imagine it was an interesting conversation.  I’m just sorry I did not have the time or opportunity to hang around and see what happened, but I had to get moving because the light had turned green.

Here is a job that I would love to have – naming new drugs when they are coming on the market.  I have always found it interesting that the name has nothing to do with the actual drug it is made from or the disease or condition it was created to fight. The people who come up with these names must have a lot of fun doing their job.  You always see the name, generally followed by the name of the drug.  I have never been too sure of why they do that.  Chances are no one really knows what the drug actually is … but I digress. 

Imagine, if you will, that we are in the office where the product names are created.  The group has been assigned the task of creating a name for a drug that treats moderate to severe (it’s always moderate to severe) arm pit fungus.  The actual drug is doxytocillukanyl.  So the group now has the information and they have to come up with a name.  One person suggests Golindalum.  When asked why he explains that his ex was named Linda and it would be funny to have her name in a drug that fought arm pit fungus.  Another person suggests Vaderia because he is a Star Wars fanatic.  Someone else offers Harpelika because she likes harp music.  They go around offering up names until they come up with the winner – Grillaxibule, because summer is coming and everyone likes to barbecue. 

Now the commercial comes out touting Grillaxibule (doxytocillukanyl [go ahead and check the spelling]).  They briefly mention the affliction and then go into a list of the side effects.  I heard one drug that said you could develop pancreatic cancer as a side effect.  Yeah, get me some of that!  Sorry, digressing some more.  The commercial shows women afraid to go sleeveless and guys wearing regular t-shirts on the beach.  We are all assured that Grillaxibule will make those problems a thing of the past.  One line that I always like is, “Do not take if you are allergic to Grillaxibule.”  How would you know you are allergic to it until you take it?  Anyway, that’s a job I always thought would be fun to have.

This week our fact tells us that 3.6 cans of Spam are consumed each second.  Once again I wonder why anyone took the time to figure that out.  Another question is how would we prove it wrong?  I can tell you this, by way of offering some trivia to support the claim.  By 2003 Spam was sold in 41 countries on six continents.  That was 13 years ago.  One would assume that the number has increased in that time period.  One thing I can assure you, I am not one of those people buying Spam.