Month: January 2023

Jan

2023

THURSDAY the twelfth of something

Today is Zanzibar Revolution Day, a public holiday in Tanzania. The day marks the 1954 revolution that overthrew the Sultan following independence from Britain. Zanzibar is a series of islands off the east coast of Africa. On December 10th 1963, the islands’ status as a British protectorate ended, with Zanzibar becoming a constitutional monarchy, with Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah as ruler.

The monarchy was short-lived – just over a month later, on January 12th 1964, a revolution led by John Okello of the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP) overthrew the sultan. The revolution resulted in over 20,000 casualties. Arabs and Indians bore the brunt of the violence, with many more fleeing the country.

Nice license plate for a hearse

INTROVERTS…

Some mornings…

Today is the birthday, in 1959 of Swedish pop singer-songwriter, guitarist, Per Gessle, with Swedish group Roxette, who had the 1990 US No.1 & UK No.3 single ‘It Must Of Been Love’. Roxette have sold an estimated 75 million records worldwide.

Jan

2023

First WEDNESDAY of 2023

Today is Day of the Martyrs in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a public holiday. It commemorates those who died in the struggle for independence from Belgium. On January 4th 1959, riots broke out in Léopoldville after police had broken up a meeting of the independence group ABAKO. After two days of violence, 47 people, all Congolese, had been killed and 379 Africans and Europeans had been injured.

Be careful how you make that PB&J!

Today is the birthday, in 1946, of Arthur Conley.

Jan

2023

First MONDAY in 2023

Today is Reconquest Day in Spain commemorating the day when King Ferdinand III of Castile and León reconquered the city of Toledo from the Moorish rulers in 1085.

The Cats’ New Year’s Resolutions

Here’s what they told us.

I was saddened to read of the death of Anita Pointer on Saturday. She and her sisters were staples of pop music in the eighties and a kind of bridge among girl groups between the Ronettes and Destiny’s Child.

Jan

2023

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

“

Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, ‘It will be happier.’

-Alfred Lord Tennyson

It’s a good day for positive thoughts and a new beginning…and some appropriate music.

Of course we can’t beat Beethoven, but this nice performance of Mozart’s Rondo ala Turca led by a 15-year-old Azerbaijani refugee and extremely talented musician from Karabach, Atabek Ismailov and the young musicians of Prague Film Orchestra helps lift the spirit.