Month: March 2024

22
Mar
2024

Hold on……..FRIDAY is here!!

Today is Emancipation Day (Spanish: Día de la Abolición de Esclavitud), a public holiday in Puerto Rico on March 22nd each year. This holiday commemorates the abolition of slavery in Puerto Rico on this day in 1873 while the Island was still a colony of Spain.

Like most European colonial powers, the Spanish encountered a labor shortage on their Caribbean conquests – mainly as they had decimated the local populations through diseases brought from Europe. This meant the use of African slaves. In 1517, the Spanish Crown permitted its subjects to import twelve slaves each, thereby beginning the slave trade in their colonies.

The early use of slaves on the island was in the gold mines. When the mining stopped, demand for slaves was driven by sugar plantations. Overall, the numbers of slaves were small compared to other Caribbean colonies, but this didn’t stop the desire to end the practice with over 20 slave revolts taking place on the island.

On March 22nd 1873,  the Spanish National Assembly abolished slavery in Puerto Rico. The slaves were not emancipated; they had to buy their own freedom, at whatever price was set by their last masters. The former slaves also had to work for another three years for their former masters as compensation.

Spring is time to redecorate for some. Avoid these mistakes…

Today is the birthday, in 1948, of Randy Hobbs, bass guitarist, Johnny Winter group, McCoys, (1965 US No.1 & UK No.5 single ‘Hang On Sloopy’). Hobbs died on August 5th 1993 from a drug overdose, aged 45. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlTKhPkZSJo

Posted by Tom in Humor, Music
21
Mar
2024

I Think it’s THURSDAY!

Today is the Birthday of Benito Juárez, a public holiday in Mexico. He was a 19th Century statesman who stood against the French intervention in Mexico.

Born on March 21st 1806, Benito Juárez is today remembered as a reformer dedicated to democracy, reducing the influence of the Catholic Church in Mexican politics, campaigning for equal rights for indigenous peoples and promoting the defense of national sovereignty.

Juárez had a very humble start to life. He was an indigenous Zapotec who became an orphan when he was only four years old, he worked as a shepherd, speaking Zapotec and unable to read or write. He moved to Oaxaca City when he was 13, where he learned to speak, read and write Spanish, studied law and got married.

He entered politics in 1834, serving as a city councilman in Oaxaca. Over the next two decades, he rose through the political system, until he was elected President. He became the 26th President of Mexico, holding office from January 15th 1858 until July 18th 1872.

SIGNZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Today is the birthday (in the Julian Calendar), in 1685, of J.S. Bach, amazing and prolific composer of the Baroque Period. It’s impossible to pick out one piece of his to share, but this one is nice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdsyNwUoON0

Posted by Tom in Humor, Music
20
Mar
2024

Woo Woo WEDNESDAY!!

Today is Oil Nationalization Day, a public holiday in Iran. This day marks the anniversary of the nationalization of the oil industry in 1951, seen as a key step in Iran’s independence from the West.

By the end of the 1940s, there was a growing resentment in Iran to the huge imbalance in oil revenues that the British government and the Iranian government were receiving from Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), formerly the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. Similar arrangements between the US and countries such as Saudi Arabia seemed more equitable and in 1950, Britain offered new concession to Iraq with regards to oil revenue.

This fueled a surge in anti-British rhetoric, with the leader of the National Front of Iran, Dr. Mohammad Mosaddegh leading calls to end foreign influence in Iran and nationalizing the oil industry. Mosaddegh then moved quickly and on 15 March 1951, he passed a law nationalizing AIOC with immediate effect, which was verified by the Iranian parliament two days later. He gave all British employees of AIOC a week to leave the country.

Sanctions were immediately placed on Iranian oil by other countries and severe economic hardships ensued in Iran. In August 1953, the government of Mosaddegh was overthrown by a military coup d’état orchestrated by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (the following year the CIA overthrew the government of Guatemala) and the British Secret Intelligence Service. Mosaddegh was sentenced to three years in prison and then kept under house arrest until his death in 1967.

Tomorrow…Bread

‘MERICA!

Today is the birthday, in 1937, of Jerry Reed, US country guitarist who worked with Chet Atkins, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Elvis Presley. His signature songs included ‘Guitar Man,’, ‘East Bound and Down’ (the theme song for the 1977 blockbuster Smokey and the Bandit, and ‘She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)’. Reed died on 1 Sept 2008. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJPM-M_Z65o

Posted by Tom in Humor, Music, sixties and seventies
19
Mar
2024

Hmmm…TUESDAY…

Today is St. Joseph’s Day. March 19 has been the Feast of St. Joseph in Western Christianity since the tenth century. It is celebrated in many countries – a public holiday in some and a regional holiday in many others including Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, Malta, Austria and Italy among others.

Saint Joseph was the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster father of Jesus. All we know about Joseph comes from the accounts of the nativity in the New Testament.

St. Joseph is the patron saint of fathers and in some predominately catholic countries, notably Italy, Portugal and Spain, Fathers’ Day is celebrated on St. Joseph’s Day.

Despite knowing so little about Joseph, he still has two feast days in the Western church. In his capacity as the patron saint of Workers, 1st May was established as the Feast of “St. Joseph the Worker” in 1955. This is seen as an attempt to counteract the social and non religious growth of Labor Day as a worldwide holiday.

Today is the Spring Equinox, known in pagan spirituality as the festival of Ostara or Eostre. Its Christian equivalent, Easter, is coming up soon as well. Since ancient times, rabbits and hares have been a common symbol of fertility and of the Goddess herself.

Easter bunny and Easter eggs on green grass field spring meadow

Bada Bing!

Look, if your cart is in the middle of the aisle and I need to get by, then yes, we are now playing bumper cars.

Who needs a social life when you have Netflix and a fridge full of food?

Damn! The hour we lost last weekend?! It was the one hour I was planning to go to the gym.

Why do they always have 5K runs for charity? Just once, couldn’t they have a sit for charity or nap for charity?

Just Blocked someone for correcting my grammar and it feelded good.

Studies have shown that intelligent people swear more than stupid motherf*ckers.

I released my own fragrance today. The rest of the people in the elevator didn’t like it.

My glasses broke when I was vacationing in a remote part of Alaska. There were no Optometrists, so I had to settle for an Optical Aleutian.

What do you call a 3.14 meter snake? A pi-thon.

Today is the birthday, in 1946, of Paul Atkinson, guitarist with The Zombies who had four US hits, ‘She’s Not There’, ‘Tell Her No’, ‘She’s Coming Home’, and ‘Time of the Season’. He later became an A&R executive, working for Columbia and RCA, discovering and signing such bands as ABBA, Bruce Hornsby, Mr. Mister, Judas Priest, and Michael Penn. Atkinson died on 1st April 2004 aged 58. This song is used frequently in media to represent the late ’60s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzpPy9hJYA8

Posted by Tom in Humor, Music, sixties and seventies
18
Mar
2024

Hey gang, It’s MONDAY!!

It’s Green Monday, a national holiday in Cyprus. Also known as ‘Clean Monday’ (“Kathara Deftera”) begins the season of Great Lent (“Sarakosti”) in Eastern Orthodox Churches on the first day of the seventh week before the Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday.

Great Lent corresponds to Lent as found in Western Christianity, though the lengths of the periods are calculated in different ways. They both use a period of 40 days between the beginning and end of Lent, because of the 40 days that Jesus is said to have spent fasting the desert. However, Western Christendom doesn’t count Sundays because Jesus is recorded as having resurrected on a Sunday, whereas Eastern Orthodox churches do count Sundays.

Liturgically, Great Lent begins on the preceding Sunday night, at a special service in which all present bow down before one another and ask for forgiveness. In this way, the faithful begin the Great Lent with a clean conscience, forgiveness and renewed Christian love

This first day of Great Lent is called “Clean Monday” because Christians should begin the holy season with “clean hearts and good intentions.” It is also because the season of Lent is regarded as a time when Christians should clean up their spiritual house, coming to terms with their lives and rededicating themselves to a more holy and righteous way of living.

Because Clean Monday is also considered to mark the first day of spring, Greeks tend to celebrate it with outdoor activities and picnics rather than fasting and prayer. These activities are often called ‘koulouma’.

Dude…

KATE MIDDLETON

Hope everyone had fun yesterday!!

Today is the birthday, in 1941, of American singer and songwriter Wilson Pickett, who recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100. Among his best-known hits are ‘In the Midnight Hour’ (which he co-wrote), ‘Land of 1,000 Dances’, ‘Mustang Sally’, and ‘Funky Broadway’. Pickett died of a heart attack on 19 Jan 2006 aged 64. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rixhkdO_IdU

Posted by Tom in Humor, Music, sixties and seventies