One man's attempt to celebrate at least one holiday for every day of the year. Join him on his journey.
About This Blog
This blog is a chronicle of my insane personal challenge to celebrate at least one holiday or special day for every single day of 2009. Check back daily for new posts and days to add to next year's calendar!
January is officially over and I am approximately 1/12 of the way through my project, and I feel... okay about what I have accomplished so far. I feel I could have done better on some of the holidays, as well as some of the posts but all I can do is strive to improve my average quality throughout the rest of the year. I also feel that odd formatting like that of Opposite Day and Binary Day should be avoided at all costs for the rest of the year.
The biggest disappointment was that I had to miss celebrating the Japanese Festival of Seven Herbs, and my greatest joy was seeing that I could actually celebrate Jackie Robinson's Birthday instead of having to don a gorilla costume for Gorilla Suit Day.
Overall, I think I'm off to a decent start on all this, and I'll be checking back in on my progress monthly, and possibly quarterly. Any opinions you'd like to share on my progress thus far will be welcomed in the comments section.
These went accidentally unmentioned in the blog so I think I'll start this as a monthly thing for the blog, though for February onward, I'll have the roundup set at the START of the month's celebrations, not the end. I'll admit it, I dropped the ball on this at first, but better late than never, eh? On to the list!
Not being a sports nut, there really wasn't much I could do. This was only exacerbated by the fact that that afternoon and evening were spent at Great Lakes Crossing as part of my extended Birthday celebrations, but I managed to find time anyway. The History Channel had some documentary about him on in the morning (forgot to write down the title) and I watched that. Not much of a celebration, admittedly, but it's something at least.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
With the Internet Archive up and many sports history books out there, I think that it'd be a breeze for someone more interested in sports than I to dig up recordings of his games or to read about him, or do whatever else they would like to in celebration of his memory.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first African-American baseball player to be drafted into the Major League. This is a landmark event not only in Baseball history, but also a major event in the burgeoning Civil Rights movement. He had a nine-year professional career from 1947-1956 all with the Brooklyn Dodgers during which he played in the World Series six times, winning once in 1955. In 1962 he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
I'm uncertain of whether or not the Dodgers have an official number for their seventh-inning stretch or not, so I'm going to go with "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" written by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer as it is indelibly linked in the minds of most Americans to the sport of baseball.
FOOTNOTES
-Up until the 29th I labored to find a gorilla costume until I decided that I was just going to celebrate this instead.
-Due to slow internet connection at my mom's house, this was back-dated and posted later.
Other holidays and observances on this date include: -Gorilla Suit Day -Catholic Feast Days for St. John Bosco, St. Marcella, St. Pedro Nolasco, St. Geminianus, and Blessed Ludovica
Today is my twentieth anniversary. On January 30th, 1989, at about 3:00 a.m. I was born. It was the 20th anniversary that day of the Beatles famous 'Rooftop Concert' recording session for the album "Let it Be". Interesting that they would become my favourite band of all time, eh? Anyway, I took the weekend off posting in order to give myself a break from things for this, my 20th anniversary, and am post-dating this back to the date/time you see there at the bottom of the post.
I had a few croissants today to eat, one with breakfast, one in sandwich form at lunch and one in the evening at the coffee shop.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
It's a food-related holiday, the rest should be self-evident.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Croissants come from France. These food ones are as arbitrary as the other made-up holidays.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
Check back on a day that it actually matters.
FOOTNOTES
-Today is also my birthday!
Other holidays and observances on this date include: -Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Birthday -40th Anniversary of the Beatles' 'Rooftop Concert' -Feast of the Three holy Heirarchs (Eastern Catholicism) -Caholic Feast Days for St. Mutien-Marie Wiaux, St. Hippolytus, St. Bathild, St. Martina, St. Savina, St. Anthony the Great, King Charles the Martyr, St. Hyacinth Mariscotti, and St. Aldegonde
Ok, I'm kinda sick of having to do these food-related holidays due to the crappy quality of the posts relating to them. It's not likeI can give you much better, though. Naturally, I had some corn chips with lunch.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
This has just gotten so damn obvious that I don't even feel like typing it. If you have half a brain, you know what to do.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
None, it's another of those random ones.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
Are you kidding me?
FOOTNOTES
-Were I at my mom's I'd have celebrated Natl. Puzzle Day instead as there's a Young Indiana Jones 200 piece one that I'm attempting to do face down. I'm barely past the border, though.
Other holidays and observances on this date include: -Natl. Kazoo Day (last Thursday of January) -Natl. Puzzle Day -Carnation Day -Kansas Admission Day -Constitution Day in Gibraltar -Catholic Feast Days for St. Juniper and Valerius of Trèves
I made some blueberry pancakes and ate them for breakfast. Used the basic Jiffy mix with some store-bought blueberries (pressed first to spread the juice around more), and a little extra sugar. I tend to have them with butter, but not syrup (I have syrup with regular pancakes, but not blueberry ones). This added info isn't really necessary, but I wanted to make this post significantly longer than the Natl. Strawberry Ice Cream Day one...
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
Preparing and consuming some blueberry pancakes seems to be the only logical option. Seriously, these food ones are being avoided where possible as they don't make for interesting blogging from either end.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
If it wasn't already obvious enough to everyone, this is one that is just there to be there, I found it on a list, and I found nothing else good, so I didn't ask questions.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
I didn't find anything good, sorry.
FOOTNOTES
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -Ernie's Birthday (Sesame Street character) -Catholic Feast Day of St. Thomas Aquinas
It feels wholly inappropriate to use words like "celebrate" when talking about such a horrid piece of history, but it's important to keep the memory alive so that such a travesty will hopefully be avoided in the future. The History Channel fortunately had an appropriate documentary on today about the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps and the progression of the Holocaust as a whole. I watched that with a grim appreciation of what was knowingly inflicted upon the people forced to intern there. If I had it, or if it had been OnDemand, I would also have watched "Twelve Angry Men" which is a fantastic dramatic representation of the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT OBSERVE THE DAY
Reading through The Diary of Anne Frank or watching a dramatic adaptation of it would be a strong option, as would watching the aforementioned "Twelve Angry Men", or Spielberg's opus "Schindler's List." Another more recent film example that I have read nothing but praise for (though I cannot personally recommend it as I have not seen it myself) is "The Boy in Striped Pajamas" which is about an unlikely friendship between a kid in a concentration camp and the son of the camp's overseer. The History Channel has also aired many documentaries on the subject (as well as the rest of WWII) over the years, and there were probably more of them on today than the one I viewed. If you are a parent or a teacher, talk to your kids about what happened and why it should be kept from happening again at all costs. Simply put, no matter what you do, don't let people forget it, it happened and it is something we as a planet should keep from ever even starting to happen again. Shame that we're letting it happen in Tibet right now... and we let Pol. Pott do it for so long, and Apartheid took twenty years to take down...
People disgust me sometimes with what they'll look the other way on. I'm not going to fucking censor myself, what's going on in Tibet should not fucking be happening! There are literally women being hung up by their wrists and having cattle prods shoved up their vaginas! Fuck you China!
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Go educate yourself on this one, read as much as you can on the subject and realize why it should never happen again. I'm not going to do your job today, that's the whole point of the day, really, to educate or re-educate yourself on the subject.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
"Red Sector A" by Rush. It was written to simulate some of the horror of Concentration Camps and much of the lyrical content was inspired by Geddy Lee's own mother's experiences living in one as a child. It is haunting and is the song that best helps keep the somber mood of the day in my opinion. Even if you don't like Geddy Lee's voice, go look up the lyrics.
FOOTNOTES
Other Holocaust related memorials today include: -Holocaust Remembrance Day in the U.K. -Gedenktag für die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus (Commemoration Day for the Victims of National Socialism) in Germany -Giorno della Memoria (Memorial Day) in Italy -Auschwitzdag (Auschwitz Day) in Denmark
I wore my shirt backwards for Backwards Day. Despite it being an official holiday in the Discordian faith, with yesterday's nearly migraine-inducing bout of Opposite Day, I'd had enough with reversing things, so I went simple.
Chinese New Year was a bit of a let down for me. I intended to go and find a restaurant in the area properly celebrating the Year of the Ox, but ended up just coming home with some take-out General Tso's Chicken.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
Backwards Day is simple enough, but I bet it comes as a surprise to most people that it actually has an official date like this. Do something backwards, wear your shirt backwards, walk backwards, read a book from end to beginning, something like that.
Chinese New Year has so much going on, and is actually a week-long celebration, though I'm only celebrating the start of multi-day celebrations with this blog. Make some paper lanterns, have a Dragon Dance, visit friends and relatives, blow off some fireworks (if it's legal in your area, I'm not going to put myself at legal risk by telling you to do something illegal), do SOMETHING for it. It's a huge cultural tradition, and can be a lot of fun if you take the time to get into it.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
As with all Discordian holidays, I'm at a loss as to the actual significance of Backwards Day to their faith, but I've decided to just not question that sort of thing and go with the flow.
The traditional twelve year cycle of animal-themed years comes from an ancient Buddhist legend stating that those twelve animals (Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Ram, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Boar, and Rat in order from this year through the cycle) that have been granted years recieved that honour as they were the only ones that came when the Buddha called a meeting of all the animals of the world. Or, at least that's what I've read, and I may be wrong.
OFFICIAL THEME SONG
There is in all probability an official tune for this day, though my research hasn't shown its identity. I'm erring on the side of caution in not looking up another one.
FOOTNOTES
-Some Discordians apparently celebrate Backwards Day on January 10th in their reforemd calendar, but in the traditional calendar that was Binary Day, so I went with their traditional dates.
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -Australia Day -Liberation Day in Uganda -Republic Day in India (one of only three National holidays there) -National Peanut Brittle Day -Catholic Feast Days for St. Paula, Timothy & Titus, St. Alberic, and St. Margaret of Hungary
The week of the 25th through the 31st is the holiday Winter-Een-Mas which is a specific week set aside for playing video games. It was created by Tim Buckley (not the famous musician) in his comic Ctrl+Alt+Del. I can't believe I almost forgot to post about it, especially since I'm sorta a gamer!
I certainly didn't just choose select words and phrases to include or cut from my sentences in conversation in order to reverse the meaning. Doing so was very easy. It also failed to confuse anyone, and did not result in a massive headache. This post is also not in this form, nor was my filler when I was having computer problems. Now that I am unable to post this or edit the proper post in, you'll have to settle for a stupid filler rather than this post.
HOW NO ONE WOULD CELEBRATE
If anyone wishes to go through the mind-numbing bliss of celebrating this holiday, it's really pretty easy. You have to do everything the opposite of how you normally woult. It's not enough to just reverse the meanings of your sentences.
FUTURISTIC\UNCOUTH INSIGNIFICANCE
This is the absolute most significant thing ever. It is completely serious and not random in the least. Every society practices it religiously and it was very specifically given this date for indelible reasons.
SILENCE FOR THIS DAY
I actually made an effort and found tons of songs that could apply amazingly.
HEADNOVELS
-I wrote this entire post (except the footnotes themselves) in as opposite of a way as possible, and yes, I realize that some of the reversals don't make much sense, like 'Headnovels' instead of 'Footnotes' but I was just having fun with it.
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -Burns Night -Criminon Day -Tatiana Day aka. Day of Russian Students -Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul -St. Dwynwen's Day in Wales -Catholic Feast Day for Gregory the Theologian
EDIT: Computer problems fixed, editing post in right now. (All these edits are occurring 1/27)
HOW I CELEBRATED
I attempted to be very complimentary to people on this day, even going so far as to write a note to the cast and crew involved with the Hilberry Theater's production of Hamlet. The compliments were all completely earned, especially those in the note (they put on what is simply the best Hamlet I've seen, and I've seen 11). To stay as true to the spirit of the holiday as possible, I only complimented sincerely.
For Peanut Butter Day, I simply had a peanut butter sandwich for lunch.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
Unless you actually are able to make your own peanut butter (a skill I currently lack, despite multiple attempts over the years), I'd say the things that I did are the easiest and purest celebrations for everyone's sake.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Yet another pair of made-up holidays thrown onto the calendar willy-nilly by someone.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
Unless something specifically comes to mind, I'm not going to search for stuff for holidays of this sort, sorry.
FOOTNOTES
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -The First Day of Sementivae in Ancient Rome -Catholic Feast Days for St. Francis de Sales, St. Cadoc, and Our Lady of Peace
My internet is working for this again, so the posts are getting edited into their rightful spots.
HOW I CELEBRATED
Bounty Day is a local custom on Pitcairn Island, so I wasn't able to get the whole festival-like atmosphere and group burning of a replica of the vessel or anything, and in fact my mom put the kibash on my burning a printed image of the boat on the driveway (my way of burning it in effigy). What I was left with then, was the book itself. William Bligh's classic firsthand account of the ship being wrested from his command is a pretty great read. I learned from the error of my ways with Winnie the Pooh, though, so I only read part of it.
Pie Day (not to be confused with Pi Day) was easy, I simply ate a piece of Apple Pie.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
I'm not going to insult you by explaining how to celebrate Pie Day, I assume anyone reading this blog is smart enough that they didn't even need the first food-related holiday to be explained to them, much less be so unobservant as to completely fail to catch the pattern of their celebrations.
Bounty Day is much more interesting. You really can't celebrate it completely properly without being on Pitcairn Island as, like I said before, it is a purely local custom. You can do a pretty decent job of observing it anyway, though. Rather than just rewording Wikipedia's entry on the holiday, however, I will just link it and let your curiosity do the rest. Also, I had a well-thought out entry for this on the 23rd, but the screwy internet connection that night made it impossible to post it and I don't feel like thinking it all out again at the moment.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Pie Day is another of those made up holidays with no seeming rhyme or reason to their placement on the calendar.
Bounty Day is a national holiday on Pitcairn Island in honour of the mutiny aboard the H.M.S. Bounty and the island's founding as a Westernized culture by said mutineers. It is also the National Holiday (on June 8th) for Norfolk Island which was granted by Queen Victoria as a home to the Pitcairners who traveled there in 1858.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
Though I have never seen the movie, I'd assume that the main theme to the classic 1935 film "Mutiny on the Bounty" would be appropriate. Herbert Stothart composed the music. Charles Laughton and Clark Gable starred, for those who are curious.
FOOTNOTES
-Most movie adaptations of the events of the mutiny are based off the novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall rather than Lt. Bligh's own account and are thus dramatized and somewhat historically inaccurate. The movie whose theme I've co-opted for this day's theme is no exception.
-As noted above, Norfolk Island's observance of Bounty Day is on June 8th, not January 23rd.
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -National Handwriting Day -Measure Your Feet Day -Catholic Feast Days for St. Abakuh, St. Emerentiana, and Blessed Marianne of Molokai
I took a batch of pre-packaged chocolate chip cookie mix and instead of making cookies with it, I cooked it in a pan to make some blonde brownies, then I ate one.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
The same way, probably. I mean, this is like Strawberry Ice Cream Day, not a heck of a lot needs to be done for it!
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Nope, there's none of that for today, it's just another made-up one.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
Nada. There is no song that I know of for today.
FOOTNOTES
-The only other things today are the Catholic Feast Days for St. Vincent, and Anastisus of Persia.
I saw only one clear way of celebrating Hug Day: go out in public with a 'Free Hug' sign. At first I went around at the nursing home that my Great Grandma is living in, but since that didn't amount to enough hugs for my liking as a celebration of this holiday, I walked over to the Barnes and Noble at the 7 mile location of St. John's hospital and was able to get a good dozen more hugs there, so I feel I celebrated pretty damn well.
Squirrel Appreciation Day wasn't as easy to celebrate as it would've been were it in a warmer month, but I left out some food for them today. I consider it a real shame that some genius stuck it here in the middle of winter since squirrels are one of my favourite animals, but that's out of my hands. After I post this, I think I'll try to look up a couple Squirrel Girl comic stories online. I'll probably edit links in if I'm able to find any.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
Hug everyone who will let you for Hug Day, that's the best way I can think of. Squirrel Appreciation Day is harder here in places where, like around here, it's the middle-of-freakin'-WINTER (as in freeze-your-butt-off winter), but anything to appreciate or recognize squirrels in some small way works.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Hug Day is an official holiday in Discordianism, beyond that, I'm not sure. Squirrel Appreciation Day is one of those made-up holidays.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
I was not able to find or think of a good theme song for either holiday.
FOOTNOTES
Other Holidays and observances today include:
-Flag Day in Quebec
-Wellington Anniversary in New Zealand
-Lady of Altagracia Day in the Dominican Republic
-Granola Bar Day
-Stonewall Jackson's Birthday
-Catholic Feast Days for St. Agnes, Fructuosus, and Meinrad of Einsiedeln
Since the innauguration of Obama is a historic event, I figured I'd seperate it from the other holiday I celebrated today, Penguin Recognition Day.
HOW I CELEBRATED
After leaving the public viewing of the inauguration at that church, my grandma and I then drove over to the Detroit Zoo where I attempted to interview the zookeeper in charge of the Penguin House. While waiting for her to come out, I hung around and watched the penguins for a bit, something I would've done anyway. When she finally did answer one of my knocks at the Employees Only door, I was informed that unfortunately unless the zoo's PR director approves an interview, it is a breach of the employee agreement to give one. I attempted then to contact the public relations supervisor, but to no avail. I watched March of the Penguins later on OnDemand.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
While it will most likely be too cold for a zoo visit for most, if you can manage to stand the weather to go see Penguins at your local zoo, doing so would be recommended as a possibility. Watching a documentary like, for example, March of the Penguins, would not be a bad choice either. Simply put, doing some sort of educational activity involving penguins is what the day is for.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
While I cannot find clear record of exactly how today originated, a search on it shows that today is the third annual Penguin Recognition Day. I also found that this is an unofficial holiday, but no further information, unfortunately. If anyone knows more, please let me know in the comments section.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG "Birth of a Penguin" from Danny Elfman's original score to the movie "Batman Returns".... is the only thing that I could think of. I'm sure there are more appropriate songs, but I could not turn up any useful results when searching "penguin songs" on Google.
FOOTNOTES
-This holiday is also known as Spheniscid Awareness Day, Penguin Day, and Natl. Penguin Day
-I typed this up on the 20th, and it was post-dated to have the publishing data say that that is when it was posted, but due to a mistake on my part (I forgot to click the 'publish' icon before leaving to hang out at a local coffee house), it was not actually published until the 21st.
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -Cheese Day -Basketball Day -Catholic Feast Days for Abadios, St. Sebastian, St. Fabian, and Euthymius the Great
I know it's really early in the day for you folks to be getting a new actual blog post from me, but I'm freshly home from celebrating both Obama's inauguration and a second holiday which will get its own post (of the regular sort) later today.
Today is a historic date as none of the news outlets will let anyone forget. Today we end the eight-year horror that was former-President George W. Bush's run of the White House, and have someone competent finally in the Oval Office.
HOW I CELEBRATED
My initial plans for today were simply to watch the inauguration here at home and then blog about it. That plan pleasantly changed this morning as I was asked by my grandma if I would like to join her in heading up to a church she attends services at to watch the inauguration there with a whole crowd of others, and I simply could not pass up that opportunity to share in the joy of welcoming our new President to his post.
We got up there at about 11:15 with a lunch we'd picked up at KFC, and after eating in the dining room area, I moved into the main hall to watch the ceremony as projected on two large screens.
As the cameras followed Obama walking down the hall of the Capital Bulding on his way to the crowds and the ceremony itself, the room burst into spontaneous applause which I shared in. The excitement in the room was almost tangible as various performances and speeches took place with more cheers and applause popping up occasionally, but for the most part, up until Obama finally took the Oath of Office, the main feelings in the room were anticipation and the aforementioned excitement bubbled just beneath the surface.
Joe Biden then took the Vice Presidential Oath of Office, officially succeeding Dick Cheney at exactly 11:58 a.m. Eastern Time. At noon, the official White House website changed over from George W. Bush as president to Barack H. Obama, preceding our new president's official swearing-in by five minutes.
Following that, a new John Williams piece, composed specifically for this event entitled "Air and Simple Gifts" based around the "Shaker Hymn" melody was premiered by Itzhak Perlman, Yo Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero, and Anthony McGill.
The tension and excitement broke at 12:05 exactly as Barack Hussein Obama was officially sworn-in as the 44th President of the United States of America immediately following his taking the Oath of Office. The entire room immediately burst into a standing ovation, cheers erupting across the room and many tears shed in pure joy. It was a moment I don't think I'll ever forget.
No one was able to maintain their composure throughout the Inaugural Address with cheers and applause bursting up and dying down spontaneously throughout. A third standing ovation, this one lasting a good five minutes followed (the first took place after Biden). Shortly after that I left, but mostly because the room was heated to an uncomfortable level for me.
HOW OTHERS CELEBRATED
All across the country, and even numerous places around the world as evidenced by periodic shots of folks gathered in various places including London, Kenya, and even a classroom filled with young children in Jakarta, Indonesia where it was almost midnight, people gathered in groups to watch today's historic ceremony. I do not feel any more needs to be said about the impact that the change-of-power had on people's spirits worldwide.
If, by odd chance, you happened to miss the procedings due to work, sleep, or whathaveyou, I have found videos on YouTube of much of the ceremony which I will share with you embedded here in approximate chronological order for your viewing pleasure.
I could not find videos of the announcement and seating of the various attendees of today's ceremonies, so we'll start with Senator Dianne Feinstein's opening remarks:
Following that came the Inaugural Prayer led by controversial pastor Rick Warren:
Next was Aretha Franklin's performance of "My Country 'tis of Thee":
Joe Biden then took the Vice Presidential Oath of Office:
The performance of "Air and Simple Gifts":
Brack Obama then finally took the Oath of Office and was sworn-in as President:
Following that was the Inaugural Address. This was split into two videos, both of which follow:
Poet Elizabeth Alexander then read her poem "Song for the Day":
The ceremony ended with a Benediction from Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowry following which the Presidential party departed from the platform:
After a break for lunch, Obama had his official signing-in at the Oval Office. I apologize for the video's sound being basically inaudible, but it's the only video I could find of it:
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
I do not feel that I need to explain to you the fact that the ceremony itself WAS a historic event.
OFFICIAL THEME SONGS
"Hail to the Chief" composed by Sir Walter Scott is the official theme music for the inauguration of the President of the United States and "Hail, Columbia" by Philip Phile is for the VP.
Today's ceremony also had its own specific official theme in the aforementioned John Williams piece.
As an additional fourth piece, and an UNofficial theme for today, I offer up our friend, Jonathan Coulton's song "The Presidents" as updated this past Saturday at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, California.
FOOTNOTES
-"Hail, Columbia" was the unofficial National Anthem of the U.S. until 1831 saw "The Star Spangled Banner" become our official one.
-I consider Obama to be the 43rd President not the 44th as the 22nd and 24th in the official count were both Grover Cleveland. Technically, in my opinion, rather than being two seperate presidents, I count Cleveland simply as the 22nd, with two non-consecutive terms.
I'm glad I'm out of high school, though if I was, it would have been an easier way to celebrate today to simply have been given the day off. That was not the case, however, so instead I watched a special on the History Channel as well as a video on YouTube of the famous "I Have a Dream" speech from August 28, 1963. That video will be embedded in the H/CS section of the blog, by the way. Also, while it would've been easier to celebrate simply as a school/bank holiday, it would not have been the better way.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
While it is a school/bank holidays in many areas across the United States (though not everywhere), I would hope that one would celebrate the life of MLK in at least some small way on this holiday. President-Elect Barack Obama also said that the day should in King's honour be recognised as a Day of Service to help improve our great nation, and I fully agree.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
I feel that the video speaks for itself and the greatness of Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. better than I ever could. Including a transcript of the speech directly in the article would make it too long in my opinion (I learned my lesson from both Binary Day and Natl. Sci-Fi Day on what not to do with formatting and quotations), I think it deserves a link. Though Stephen Colbert still has yet to acknowledge his shameful snubbing of Bald Eagle Day (I'm not going to let him off the hook for that in the near future), I would feel remiss if I were not to also include a link to his loving parody/tribute of King's famous speech with his own "I Have a Dreamsicle".
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
While U2's music is really hit-or-miss with me, their song "MLK" off Rattle and Hum is a tasteful tribute to the late Reverend King with lyrics that are at once both mournful and filled with hope. As much as Bono can be a pompously arrogant prick, he can write a fantastic song from time to time.
FOOTNOTES
-This holiday was originally recognized on King's birthday (January 15th) but was moved at some point to the third monday of the month for reasons that are unknown to me.
-I briefly considered celebrating Popcorn Day as well, but felt that it would be disrespectful to the memory of Dr. Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. to do so.
-Likewise I would have loved to have been able to celebrate Archery Day but a combination of respect for Dr. King and the complete lack of an archery range (that I'm aware of) in the area prevented this.
Other holidays and observances on this date include:
-Edgar Allen Poe's Birthday
-Confederate Heroes Day in Texas
-Feast of Sultán in the Bahá'í Faith
-Kappa Alpha Order Convivium (Founders Day)
-Epiphany in Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Catholicism
-Popcorn Day (or Natl. Popcorn Day, sources vary on which the title is)
-Archery Day
-Catholic Feast Days for Henry of Uppsala, St. Mark of Ephesus, Wolfstan (Bishop of Worcester), and Maris, Martha, Abachum & Audifax
For Winnie the Pooh Day, which is technically incorrectly titled, as though the first book was called "Winnie the Pooh", the text has Christopher Robin correcting the narrator and saying it's not Winnie THE Pooh, it's Winnie THER Pooh. No explanation is given on what 'ther' means, though. Anyway, for Winnie the Pooh Day, I celebrated in what was probably the most exhausting way for any of the holidays so far, I actually read an omnibus hardcover edition of the original Pooh stories by A.A. Milne cover to cover. That's about 344 pages of Pooh, for those who don't know. Great stories, mind you, but I really shouldn't have decided to read the whole damn thing in one day. My baby sister also watched a few Winnie the Pooh movies this morning as I started my reading in the same room. I wish that I could also say that I did something related to the production of Winnie the Pooh that local theater group the Eastpointe Players is putting on, but sadly I didn't make cast when I auditioned for it.
For much of the time spent reading, and much of the day in general whether reading or not, I celebrated Jazz Day as well. As is probably self-evident, that means that I have had various types of jazz music on all day, from ragtime, to fusion, to bebop, to other sub-genres I'm not sure of the name of. A slight selection of some of the bands/artists included in this musical binge include Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Steely Dan, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Frank Sinatra (though Ol' Blue Eyes tended to bounce between pop and jazz, a lot of his stuff still counts in my opinion).
Today's third holiday was the Discordian celebration Pat Pineapple Day. This had a much simpler expression on my part than the others, I just had some pineapple pieces with breakfast.
HOW OTHERS MIGHT CELEBRATE
Hopefully for Winnie the Pooh Day, no one reading this blog will go as far overboard as I did. Simply sharing one or two of the stories as a family or reading them on your own should suffice. Watching one of the Disney features (preferrably an old one, but that's your choice, not mine) would be a good option as well.
Jazz Day is a pretty simple one as well. In fact, all three of today's are. Any celebration of jazz music, be it performance or listening (or a mix of the two) is perfect.
Pat Pineapple Day's celebrations as far as I was informed when I discovered it are simply to consume or do something made from, or based off, pineapples.
HISTORICAL/CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
After first being published in 1926, the children's book "Winnie-the-Pooh" by A.A. Milne and along with its sequel "The House at Pooh Corner" from 1928, it has spawned a multi-billion dollar line of animated movies, cartoon series', etc. after the rights were purchased by the Walt Disney corporation (first in 1966 for the short "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" and countless times afterward), as well as the original stories charming parents and children alike worldwide. At some unknown point, Milne's birthday became officially recognized as Winnie the Pooh Day in honour of his most famous creation.
I have found no background on why today is Jazz Day, so I am under the assumption that it's just another one of those made up holidays.
Pat Pineapple Day is a Discordian holiday. Not being in on the texts of whatever the Discordian holy book is called, and thus unable to find it online, I am unaware of this day's significance. I do know, however, that a person(?) in their belief system was called Pat Pineapple and that's who this day is named for.
UNOFFICIAL THEME SONG
For Winnie the Pooh Day I'm torn between the song "Winnie the Pooh" written by the Sherman Brothers and at least excerpted in some form in every single animated feature I've seen about him and "House at Pooh Corner" by Loggins and Messina. Jazz Day, being named for a style of music is obviously unable to have a single theme as it is beyond subjective as to what the ultimate piece of music in said style is, though the most performed would be "In the Mood" popularized by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, though my personal tastes are pressuring me to say the entirety of "A Love Supreme" by John Coltrane. This is basically a "pick your own" day, so whatever jazz piece you like best is your pick.
FOOTNOTES
-There are twenty official Winnie the Pooh stories at this date, though the third official book is slated to be published this October 6th. These are not lost stories written by A.A. Milne, but rather a completely new collection.
-I'm kicking myself for skipping Daniel Webster's Birthday. I could easily have celebrated by telling the story usually referred to as 'The Devil and Daniel Webster' at Trixie's Poetry Night... oh well.
Other Holidays and observances on this date include: -First day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity -Thesaurus Day -Paryaya Day at Udupi (falls on even-numbered years, as such it did not occur today) -Royal Thai Armed Forces Day -Feast of the Cross (Eastern Orthodox Catholicism) -Feast of the Confession of St. Peter (Eastern Orthodox, Angelican, and Lutheran) -Daniel Webster's Birthday -Catholic Feast Days for St. Athanasius (Eastern Orthodox), St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. Margaret of Hungary, St. Prisca, and St. Volusianus
I am a 20 year old college student who is active in community theater and the local artistic community and am in school with the intention of becoming a drama teacher.
You can contact me at holidayaday@yahoo.com
I made it clear in a post, but I thought I'd clarify on the blog's sidebar here that absolutely anyone can comment on the blog, you don't have to be registered to blogger to do so.
Any comment you would like to add (as long as it's respectful) will be approved. Even stuff like "fuRsT pOst LULZ!!1!" will be allowed.
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