Month: March 2024

29
Mar
2024

It’s FRIDAY boys and girls!!

Today is Boganda Day, a public holiday in the Central African Republic. This day honours Barthélemy Boganda, the nation’s first prime minister on the anniversary of his death on this day in 1959.

Barthélemy Boganda was a leading nationalist politician and the driving force in the creation of the Central African Republic in 1958.

Before his political career, Boganda had become the first African Roman Catholic priest in Ubangi-Shari, a French colony that is now part of the CAR. He became involved in politics and in 1946 he was elected to the French National Assembly, becoming the first representative of the CAR in the French government.

His strident anticolonial views led to him becoming disillusioned with the French political system and leaving the priesthood in 1949; and forming his own political party, the Social Evolution Movement of Black Africa.

Hugely popular, Boganda became the president of the Grand Council of French Equatorial Africa (which also included Chad, Gabon, and the French Congo) in 1957. His vision was for a pan-African movement to unite several African states.

Boganda became the first prime minister of the Central African Republic on 1 December 1958. Boganda’s rule proved to be short-lived; he died in a plane crash on March 29th 1959 under suspicious circumstances and did not live to see his country gain full independence from France in August 1960, with his cousin David Dako becoming the country’s first President.

apostrophe wrong

Not nice…

THINK HARD before you post your Easter family photo.

Tipping Culture…

at self-checkout…

NO Regerts

Today is the birthday, in 1946, of Canadian singer, songwriter Terry Jacks who had the 1974 UK & US No.1 single ‘Seasons In The Sun’. The song was originally intended for The Beach Boys, with Jacks serving as producer for the recording. However, after the group decided not to release it, Jacks decided to record it himself in late 1973. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWdQbxNEFEs

Posted by Tom in Humor, Music, sixties and seventies
28
Mar
2024

THUUUURRRRRSSSSDAY

I couldn’t find any interesting international holidays today but I realized that I missed the most important holiday of all a few days ago – back on March 25th – and that, of course, is MARYLAND DAY!

Maryland Day commemorates March 25, 1634. On that day, settlers who had recently disembarked from two small sailing ships – the Ark and the Dove – on St. Clement’s Island, in what is now St. Mary’s County, Maryland, celebrated the official founding of the colony of Maryland (now the most important state in the USA).

Departing on November 22, 1633, these travelers (about 140 in number) set off from Cowes on the English Isle of Wight. Three days later a severe storm tossed them relentlessly about at sea. The morning after, the Dove (the smaller ship) could not be seen. The Ark continued its journey, following the European coast south to the Fortunate (now Canary) Islands. From the Canaries, the Ark sailed due west across the Atlantic, touching land at the island of Barbados in the West Indies on January 3, 1633/4. There, the ship’s weary travelers stayed three weeks replenishing provisions, and there the Dove reappeared, having weathered the Atlantic voyage alone. At other Caribbean isles they also landed, and then sailed north. They reached Virginia on February 27th, gathered more supplies, and navigated Chesapeake Bay north to the mouth of the Potomac by March 3rd.

As these voyagers approached southern Maryland shores in March 1634, their ships alarmed Native Americans, who sent alerts with huge signal fires. To meet the Conoy Indian chief and calm Indian fears, Leonard Calvert on the Dove sailed to Piscataway. There, they negotiated a peaceable accord, and then Calvert sailed back down the Potomac off present-day St. Mary’s County. On March 25th, the English settlers held a day of thanksgiving for their safe voyage end, and we continue to commemorate it as Maryland Day.

SIGNZ

Today is the birthday, in 1986, of Lady Gaga, (Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) American singer, songwriter. 2008 single US & UK No.1 single ‘Just Dance’, 2008 single ‘Poker Face’, reached No.1 in twenty countries. In 2012, Gaga was ranked at No.4 on Billboard’s list of top moneymakers of 2011, grossing more than 25 million dollars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bESGLojNYSo

Posted by Tom in Humor, Music
27
Mar
2024

Wet WEDNESDAY…at least here

Today is Armed Forces Day in Myanmar, a public holiday. Known in Myanmar as ‘Tatmadaw Nay’, it commemorates the rebellion against Japanese occupation during the second world war.

During World War II, Some Burmese saw the rise of Japan as an opportunity to gain independence from Britain. Aung San was a prominent figure in the independence movement, but he had been exiled to China. He collaborated with Japan, having been convinced they would make Burma an independent nation if they helped drive out the British.

With Burmese nationalist support, Japan took control of Burma in 1942. However Aung San came to realize that the Japanese had no intention of giving independence to Burma and on March 23rd 1945, he led the Burmese army in a rebellion against the Japanese that helped the Allied forces remove the Japanese from the region.

The Burmese army is probably at its lowest strength in years due to the ongoing armed resistance. The widespread armed resistance has left the military overstretched and undermanned; a situation exposed in late October when the Three Brotherhood Alliance launched a stunning offensive known as Operation 1027. The trio of ethnic armed groups seized large chunks of territory in northern Shan and southern Chin states as well as in Rakhine State, where fierce fighting continues to rage.

Anticoup protesters stamp on a picture of military leader Min Aung Hlaing [Johnson Lai/AP]

STICK ON YOUR BUMPER!!

Today, BTW, is the anniversary of the arrival in Washington, DC of three thousand Japanese cherry trees — a gift from Yukio Ozaki, the mayor of Tokyo — in 1912. First Lady Helen Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted the first two of the trees on the north bank of the Tidal Basin on March 27, 1912.

Today is the birthday, in 1970, of American singer, songwriter, actress, record producer, and entrepreneur Mariah Carey. She became the first and only artist to have their first five singles reach No.1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. She is the third-best-selling female artist in the United States, with 64 million albums sold and over 220 million records sold worldwide. Carey holds the record for the most Billboard Hot 100 No.1 singles by a solo artist (19), a female songwriter (18), and a female producer (15), spending a record 93 weeks atop the chart. Carey is named after the song ‘They Call The Wind Mariah’ from the 1951 Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hat1Hc9SNwE

Posted by Tom in eighties music, Humor, Music
26
Mar
2024

Happy TUESDAY everyone!

Today is Independence Day in Bangladesh. The holiday celebrates the declaration of the Independence of Bangladesh in 1971. It is the National Holiday of Bangladesh.

In 1947, India was partitioned by the British, creating the ‘Dominion of Pakistan’, which was two separate regions to the north west and north east of India. The new dominion was governed from West Pakistan, which led to frictions between the two regions, with the first signs of a movement for autonomy for East Pakistan appearing in 1949.

In the 1970 general elections, the Bangla-based Awami League, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman won an overall majority, but the West Pakistani regime was reluctant to hand over power. On 25 March 1970, Pakistani troops were used to quell the growing unrest. This led to the Independence of Bangladesh being declared by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 26 March 1971, and marked the start of the war of Independence. In November 1970, India entered the war, supporting East Pakistan. This led to victory for East Pakistan on 16 December 1970 (marked by the Victory Day holiday).

On gaining it’s independence, East Pakistan was renamed Bangladesh.

It’s creepy Easter Bunny time!!

BADA BING!!!

I was in line behind a guy buying condoms when his card got declined. The little old lady behind me whispered, “He just got cock blocked by Visa.”

Someone found a hole in the nudist colony fence. Police are looking into it.

Reading way above my grade level didn’t get me as far in life as I had hoped.

Every time I think I have a new hobby, it turns out I just like to buy stuff.

We keep a potato masher in a drawer because sometimes it’s fun not to be able to open that drawer.

I asked the kid working at McDonald’s if the Shamrock shakes were made with real Shamrocks. He went to ask the manager.

I’m writing a new book called “How to be concise and get straight to the point using the minimum of definitive words necessary to convey your meaning as clearly as possible without overly long descriptions and explanations.

I finally told my kids that St. Patrick wasn’t real…and that it’s actually been me putting snakes under their pillows every year.

Telling an Irish girl to calm down is like trying to baptize a cat.

I was so traumatized from being born I couldn’t walk for a year and couldn’t speak for two.

Anger management class postponed for classroom repairs.

I hope my last words aren’t, “What does this thing do?”

Today is the birthday, in 1949, of Vicki Lawrence, American actress, comedian, and pop singer. In 1973, Lawrence became a one-hit wonder songstress, landing on the US chart with the No. 1 ‘The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52JAjsUAINQ&list=RD52JAjsUAINQ&start_radio=1

Posted by Tom in Humor, Music, sixties and seventies
25
Mar
2024

MONDAY…again

Today is the Anniversary of the ‘Arengo’, a public holiday observed in San Marino on March 25th each year. This holiday commemorates the events on this day in 1906 which led to the first-ever parliament elected directly by the people.

Formed at the start of the 4th century, true to form, San Marino took a different approach to government than the surrounding nations and city-states. Rather than be ruled by a monarch, from the 5th century until the middle of the 13th century, San Marino was ruled by an assembly of the heads of the important families in the nation. This was called the Arengo (Italian for “meeting”) and had no leader or even a fixed meeting place.

By 1243, the people of San Marino had had enough of political feuds between teh families and the Pope made a replacement elected assembly, the Grand and General Council the supreme body of San Marino, kicking the Arengo into the long grass.

After three centuries of rule by the council, the Sammarinese Socialist Party was calling for democratic rule in the country.

An “Arengo” was summoned on March 25th 1906, when the citizens were asked whether the system of co-option of councilors for life should continue and whether the size of councils should be proportionate to the population of the communities they represented. The first proposal was rejected by 90.65% of voters and the second was approved by 94.89%. This led to the first-ever democratic elections in the country being held on June 10th 1906.

Behind the red door…

America says NO to the metric system

PIZZA – the American food…

BARKALOUNGERS

Today is the birthday, in 1947, of Sir Elton John singer, songwriter, pianist, (Reginald Dwight), who had the 1971 UK No.7 single ‘Your Song’, the 1973 US No.1 single ‘Crocodile Rock’ along with seven other US No.1’s. He had the biggest selling single of all time in 1997 with ‘Candle In The Wind 97’, plus has scored over 50 UK Top 40 hit singles. John has sold over 150m records worldwide. Elton and Bernie Taupin wrote the No.1 (with Kiki Dee) ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ under the pseudonyms Ann Orson and Carte Blanche. Some of the aliases Sir Elton has used checking into hotels include, Prince Fooboo, Sir Humphrey Handbag, Lillian Lollipop, Lord Choc Ice, Lord Elpus, Binky Poodleclip and Sir Henry Poodle. Elton John’s official nickname is Rocket Man. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f0TMfQNRk8

Posted by Tom in eighties music