Today is...

[Charon]

i know. i thought that about pee wee herman myself, harley. LOL.

[Spanky]

Cruel world, Pee Wee is younger than I am--not by much.  Always enjoyed his "Playhouse"--can not keep up with the frailties or strengths of celebs, so just judge by the work.  Made me laugh a lot, shoe mirrors, bike, etc., and especially liked Phil Hartman anywhere he showed up. 



Spankster

[IceWizard]

Sunday 28 Aug 2016

Bow Tie Day



A whirling noise in the distance, followed by a male in a bow tie and a female in a summer dress running out of a blue police box. A small wooden puppet with a large blue bow tie that is still there when the puppet comes to life.. Or a sharply dressed man hunting around for information in order to save the world from annihilation.

All three examples are notable by a bow tie that the character wears. Whether it be the Doctor from Dr. Who, Pinocchio, or James Bond, each wears a bow tie very well, and accentuates it for that very character.

History of Bow Tie Day

The bow tie has it’s origins, not in France like many think, but in Croatia. The French military forces had seen the way the Crotian soldiers tied the necktie in order to keep the collars of their shirts together during the Thirty Year War.

After that, tobacco magnate Pierre Lorillard wore one to the Tuxedo Club, and his black and white fashion sense blossomed into becoming the Tuxedo we know currently in fashion.

Typically the bow tie is worn as an accessory to accentuate the neck, helping draw eyes up to the face and away from the shoulders and chest.

And



Pony Express Day



Pony Express Day celebrates those brave souls who made up the unique mail delivery system of the same name. Back in the days of the wild west, there was no Fed Ex, no Postal Service that ran that far west, no planes, and delivery by ship was likely to take months if it ever got there at all.

Seeing this need for a specialized delivery service, Leavenworth and Pike’s Peak Express Company took an opportunity to expand into this void. From this important decision was born one of the most iconic pieces of American History, whose influence is felt in hundreds of Pony Express Day Festivals throughout the American Midwest.

History

The Pony Express existed for 18 months between the days of April 3, 1860 to October 1861. In these days there was no air mail, no great American Highway, all there was was hundreds of miles of wide open spaces with not much in between but animal filled wilderness and bandito filled hollows.

During this time, if you wanted to send a letter or small package from anywhere East past the gateway of St. Joseph, Missouri, there was only one way to go. The Pony Express was a massive employer for it’s time, with up to 80 young riders employed at any given stage, with stringent requirements on their age, size, and weight.

The Pony Express preferred to employ the youngest riders they could, in part for their resilience, and in part for how light they were. The lighter a man was the longer the horse could run and the more cargo the rider could carry, and since the horses were put to go full tilt for 10 to 15 miles at a stretch before changing, this was of vital importance.

The rider changed out every 75 to 100 miles, but the mail never so much as slowed even in the worst of weather. While the average trip from coast to coast (On Horseback!) took 10 days, when they delivered Lincoln’s Inaugural Address, the trip was made in a mere 7 days and 17 hours.

[Spanky]

Good one on bow ties Ice.  I like the history of clothes.  Used to have a big book with lots of pictures-my favorite kind--with the evolution of clothes.  Says stuff about a culture.  One of our first minted coins was of a female face of freedom in profile.  She had wild hair to represent that freedom, but congress caught so much flack they had to had a bow placed in her hair for later mintages.  Most "ties" as you point out were just cloth wrapped up and over, a "cravat", and cravats were pretty much it of one sort another until the early 19th century. 

I have a while velvet, clip-on bow tie, but no clothes to go with it.  Now, if I just had a pony. 


Spanky

[Charon]

NATIONAL CHOP SUEY DAY
Get your chopsticks ready!  National Chop Suey Day is recognized each year on August 29.

Chop suey, which means “assorted pieces,” is a dish in American Chinese cuisine consisting of meat (chicken, fish, beef, prawns or pork) and eggs that are cooked quickly with vegetables (usually bean sprouts, cabbage and celery) and bound in a starch-thickened sauce. Rice typically accompanies this delicious dish.

*************************

   

“A prime example of culinary mythology” and typical with popular foods, there is a long list of colorful and conflicting stories of the origin of chop suey, according to food historian Alan Davidson.

It is believed, by some, that chop suey was invented in America by Chinese Americans. However, anthropologist E.N. Anderson concludes that it is based on tsap seui (miscellaneous leftovers) which is common in Taishan, a district of Guangdong Province.  Taishan is the home of many early Chinese immigrants to the United States.

Another account claims that chop suey was invented by Chinese American cooks that were working on the transcontinental railroad in the 19th century.

A prime example of culinary mythology. ~ Alan Davidson on the origin of chop suey.
A tale is told of chop suey’s creation stemming from the Qing Dynasty premier Li Hongzhang’s visit to the United States in 1896. According to the story, his chef wanted to create a meal that was suitable for both the Chinese and the American palates.  It has also been told that Li wandered to a local Chinese restaurant after the hotel kitchen closed, where the chef, embarrassed that he had nothing ready to offer, came up with the new “chop suey” dish using scraps of leftovers.

Another myth tells of an 1860s Chinese restaurant cook in San Francisco that was forced to serve something to the drunken miners after hours. To avoid a beating, having nothing fresh to offer, he threw leftovers in a wok and provided a makeshift meal to the miners.  The miners loved the dish, asked him what it was called to which he replied, “Chopped Sui.”  

*********************

Traveling to the United States in 1903, Liang Oichao, a Guangdong native, wrote that there existed a food item called chop suey which was popularly served by Chinese restaurateurs, but which local Chinese people did not eat.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Enjoy some chop suey and use #NationalChopSueyDay to post on social media.

HISTORY

Within our research, we could not find the creator of National Chop Suey Day.

[Charon]

Ice, just delete mine and put urs up if you would like. Your today in History rule.

[IceWizard]

My Dearest One... You do a fantastic "Today is".... Maybe i can just add to what you've already started....

Monday 29 Aug 2016

Individual Rights Day



In honor of John Locke, whose philosophical writings argued for the rights of each single human being, Individual Rights Day is celebrated on August 29th, the date of Locke’s birth.

According to Locke, “Anything that a man has as a matter of human rights or civil rights is to remain inviolably his,” and although Locke conceded that humans surrendered some natural rights in exchange for the collective protection afforded by societies, he held that basic individual rights include life, liberty, property, freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom to petition government. Individual Rights Day was initiated by the founder of the Objectivist Party, Dr. Tom Stevens, who supports John Locke’s philosophies regarding the rights of society’s smallest minority and basic unit – the individual.

Celebrations of Individual Rights Day include reading about John Locke and his views, reviewing your country’s commitment to the protection of rights and appreciating the value of freedom and the sacrosanct nature of individual rights.

And



More Herbs, Less Salt Day



Eating a healthy, balanced diet is often easier said than done – it takes thought, time and effort to prepare fresh and nutritious food, when less healthy options are often much easier and more convenient!

More Herbs, Less Salt Day encourages you to take a simple step to re-align this balance, through the use of herbs in home-cooked dishes in place of salt. It doesn’t take much room or effort to grow a variety of fresh herbs, and a little rosemary, thyme, mint or other herbs can do just as much to enrich a dish as a heavy dose of salt.

[IceWizard]

Tuesday 30 Aug 2016

Slinky Day



That little jingle has been heard by millions upon millions of people worldwide. Catchy, and with a toy that is a staple from our own childhoods, the Slink is a Toy Hall of Fame superstar. Sitting up there with the likes of Barbie, G.I. Joe and LEGO, this powerhouse of a toy has the humblest of beginnings. But even with those humble beginnings, it was more than enough to bring it to the attention of children worldwide, and later having Slinky Day to remember, and play with, those metal and plastic coils.

History of Slinky Day

The Slinky was originally designed and sold in the 1940s. The inventor had accidentally knocked a spring off the shelf, and watched it ‘walk’ down a series of books, to a tabletop, and then to the floor where it neatly coiled itself.

The creator, Richard James, had gone home to his wife Betty and said “I think if I got the right property of steel and the right tension, I could make it walk.“

It took the better part of a year, but he had done it. Making 400 Slinky units with a five hundred dollar loan, James and his wife had founded a company to make, and sell, this unique toy to the masses.

With a dollar for a price tag, they were interesting, but not really a hit. Until the fateful day, that they were granted permission to set up an inclined plane in the toy section of Gimbles Department Store. Within ninety minutes, they had sold all 400 of the units, with more being requested.

Only a year later, the Slinky was introduced at the American Toy Fair, the largest gathering of businesses that produce, and market, toys to various stores. Since then, the Slinky has been marketed around the world, with both plastic and metal finding placement around the world in various forms.

During the Vietnam War, United States troops used them as mobile radio antennas, as have amateur radio operators ever since. NASA uses them in experiments on Space Shuttles, and teachers use them to simulate the properties of oscillation in waves.

And



Frankenstein Day





The crackle of electricity, and the patter of rain drops on the stone walls and terracotta roof give an eerie feeling when combined with the dank laboratory that houses various experiments. Give yourself a bit of liquid courage, and step forward to embrace a little bit of darkness in Frankenstein Day.

History of Frankenstein Day

Despite the gloomy weather and almost horrific atmosphere, the experiment comes to life after bolt of lightning is directed through the body of the stitched together cadaver. This experiment was done to imbue life into the cadaver, and worked. Dr Frankenstein, with his knowledge of chemistry and other sciences, created an unknown method to give life to matter that was not living before.

This is the first stepping stone to his creating the monster that is called Frankenstein, despite it being referred to in the book as just the Creature. However, on the creation of the creature, the good Doctor Frankenstein is repulsed by his creation, and banishes it as he himself flees.

During the course of the novel, the Creature wanders, learns to read, write and speak rather well, learning while hiding near a cottage in the woods from overhearing the speech and reading from some books it had found in the woods. After befriending the blind father of those in the cottage, it is introduced to the family and after being rejected again, it burns the cottage in a fit of rage.

Seeking out the doctor, it finds him, and demands that he make it a bride as it deserves happiness. After assembling the laboratory and a bride for the Creature, Dr Frankenstein destroys the body when he sees the creature watching in a window. Enraged, the creature tells the doctor that he will be there on his wedding night.

Fleeing the area, Dr Frankenstein meets up with his intended, and Frankenstein makes plans to defend himself and his betrothed from the creature. Having her stay in their room, he goes out to deal with the creature, only to look up to the window and be mocked with the corpse of his wife.

(Gene Wilder will be forever remembered with his role as Dr Frakenstin... He will be missed)

[Linville]

Morning Ice.

I liked a lot of movies Gene played in. Didn't he play in Blazing Saddles ? It is early but I think ....

[Charon]

Liked both slinky and gene wilder. RIP.