Month: October 2024

Holidays around the world today. It is, of course, Diwali, The Festival of Light. The celebration revolves around the triumph of good over evil, purity over impurity, light over darkness. It is one of the most important Hindu festivals and is celebrated by the Indian diaspora around the world.

Diwali marks the return of Lord Rama, who was the seventh incarnation of Vishnu, from a fourteen-year exile.

The Festival of Lights takes place on the darkest night (the first night of the new moon) in the month of Kartik in the Hindu calendar.

Across India streets and temples are decorated with spectacular light displays and colourful garlands.

In their homes, people light small oil lamps called diyas. It is believed that deceased relatives come back to visit their families on Earth during this festival and the lights are a way to guide the spirits home.

It is also Halloween and in North America and some other parts of the world, young people (and some old people) may dress up in costumes and visit their neighbors’ homes in search of sweets.

Halloween takes its roots from the old Celtic festival, Samhain Eve, when it was believed that the link between the worlds of the living and dead was at its strongest. Some scholars believe that Samhain (pronounced sow-in) was the Celtic new year. Samhain means Summer’s End and was essentially a harvest festival and a time to ask for supernatural support to get through the coming winter.

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Do I remember her?? Did we have a beef???

Today is the birthday, in 1950, of American singer, songwriter and guitarist Moon Martin. Originally a rockabilly artist, he wrote the songs ‘Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)’, made famous by the English singer Robert Palmer, and ‘Cadillac Walk’, a hit for American singer Willy DeVille. Hi died on 11 May 2020 age 74. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlPHmYtqSdA

Today is the eve of Deepavali, a public holiday in Puducherry State in India. The Festival of Lights is known as Deepavali (deep – lamp, vali – array). This is the name of the festival in Southern India and is how the festival is referred to in other Asian countries such as Malaysia and Singapore. In Northern India, it is more commonly known as Diwali, but they are essentially the same celebration.

In these countries and for Hindus around the world, the celebration revolves around the triumph of good over evil, purity over impurity, light over darkness. It is one of the most important Hindu festivals. Diwali marks the return of Lord Rama, who was the seventh incarnation of Vishnu, from a fourteen-year exile.

The Festival of Lights takes place on the darkest night (the first night of the new moon) in the month of Kartik in the Hindu calendar.

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Halloween…

Scary Dogs!

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SIGNZ or something

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Today is the birthday, in 1939, of American singer-songwriter Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane, Starship. Slick provided vocals on a number of iconic songs, including ‘Somebody to Love’, ‘White Rabbit’, ‘We Built This City’ and ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WANNqr-vcx0

today is Republic Day (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Bayramı) in Turkey. The holiday commemorates the proclamation of the Turkish republic on October 29th 1923.

Following the defeat of the Ottomans in World War I, the allies occupied Turkey as part of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire.

An uprising of Turkish nationalists led to the Turkish war of independence (1919 -1923). The allies left Turkish regions in July 1923.

Mustafa Kemal, the leader of the Turkish troops was named the first president on October 29th 1923 when the First Grand National Assembly declared Türkiye to be a republic officially in the new capital, Ankara, at the First Grand National Assembly of Türkiye Building.

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I have questions…

Bada Bing!!

I got thrown out of my local park after arranging the squirrels by height. They didn’t like my critter sizing.

The other day I went to a Rocky Mountain oyster fry. Everybody there had a ball.

After spending the holidays accurately measuring the height of all my relatives, I just can’t taller rate them anymore.

Someone told me in order to drive an electric car, you must possess a current driver’s license.

I used to have a job making certain chess pieces. I worked the knight shift.

A baby camel was born without a hump. His parents named him Humphrey. 

Some people get weird as they get older. Not me, I’ve always been this way.

No need to thank me for accepting your friend request. We’ll both regret it soon enough.

Remember when plastic surgery was a taboo subject? Now you mention botox and no one raises an eyebrow.

The more time I spend with people, the more I understand why Noah allowed only animals on the ark.

I ran into a lamppost yesterday. Luckily, I only sustained light injuries.

The other night I told my daughter “Go to bed, even the cows are sleeping in the field.” She said, “So what’s that got to do with anything?” I replied, “That means it’s pasture bedtime.”

This just in: Unnamed sources say unconfirmed rumors have been totally substantiated by unverifiable facts.

Oh No! Clocks go back November 3rd, and I can’t remember where I bought mine from!

If someone tries to teach me geometry, I’m gonna do a 360 and walk the other way!

Men will vote republican for decades because they can’t accept light regulation on guns and then act astonished when women vote based on not wanting to die from sepsis.

Schools can’t even serve peanut butter cookies, but they’re doing secret gender reassignment surgery on students?

“He’s no Arnold Palmer.” — Stormy Daniels

Fun to watch, Evangelicals voting for a rapist who dances to gay music and talks about Arnold Palmer’s dick. What a role model.

Until tRUMP ran for president in 2016, I didn’t realize how many truly awful people there were in this country.

Against student loan forgiveness? Well, isn’t filing for bankruptcy 6 times just another name for “loan forgiveness.”

America is inching towards the metric system.

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Today is the birthday, in 1944, of English musician, singer, songwriter Denny Laine who with The Moody Blues, had the 1965 UK No.1 & US No.10 single ‘Go Now’. Laine was a constant member of Wings for their entire run from 1971 to 1981, playing guitar, bass, keyboards, singing backing and lead vocals, and co-writing songs with Paul McCartney including the 1977 hit ‘Mull of Kintyre’. Laine died from interstitial lung disease in Naples, Florida, on 5 December 2023, at the age of 79. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap87QgZKTNw

Today is the National Anniversary of Greek Independence. It may be known as ‘World War II National Holiday’. The day is also called ‘Ochi Day’ or ‘Oxi’ Day anniversary (pronounced ‘ohi’) in celebration of Greece’s refusal to yield to the powers of the Axis in 1940.

At 3am on October 28th 1940, an ultimatum from Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini was handed to former military general and Prime Minister of Greece, Ioannis Metaxas at his home in Kifissia by the Italian Ambassador of Athens, Emanuele Grazzi. The ultimatum required the free passage of the Italian army through the Greek-Albanian border, signalling the Italian occupation of some strategic areas of Greece.

After reading the letter, Metaxas turned to the Italian Ambassador and famously responded “Ochi!” – “No!” in Greek.

That “No!” brought Greece into the second world war on the side of the Allies. Indeed, for a period, Greece was Britain’s only ally against Hitler. Not only did Greece rebuke Mussolini’s demands, but they also seized the offensive and drove the Italians back through most of Albania.

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Very large dog!

Pelicans…

Today is the birthday, in 1940, of British singer Wayne Fontana, who had the 1966 UK No.2 single with Mindbenders, ‘Groovy Kind Of Love’, and the 1965 US No.1 single ‘Game Of Love’. Fontana died from cancer on 6 August 2020 at the age of 74. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8kq1IU7Y44

Photographed by Etienne Carjat in 1875

Yesterday was the birthday, in 1838, of Georges Bizet, a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, which has become one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertoire.

Bizet struggled through his entire career to gain recognition. He found that the main Parisian opera theatres preferred the established classical repertoire to the works of newcomers. His keyboard and orchestral compositions were likewise largely ignored; as a result, his career stalled, and he earned his living mainly by arranging and transcribing the music of others.

After his death, his work, apart from Carmen, was generally neglected. Manuscripts were given away or lost, and published versions of his works were frequently revised and adapted by other hands. He founded no school and had no obvious disciples or successors. After years of neglect, his works began to be performed more frequently in the 20th century. Later commentators have acclaimed him as a composer of brilliance and originality whose premature death was a significant loss to French musical theater.

In June 1872, Bizet informed Galabert: “I have just been ordered to compose three acts for the Opéra-Comique. [Henri] Meilhac and [Ludovic] Halévy are doing my piece”. The subject chosen for this project was Prosper Mérimée’s short novel, Carmen. Bizet began the music in the summer of 1873, but the Opéra-Comique’s management was concerned about the suitability of this risqué story for a theatre that generally provided wholesome entertainment, and work was suspended.

Adolphe de Leuven, the co-director of the Opéra-Comique most bitterly opposed to the Carmen project, resigned early in 1874, removing the main barrier to the work’s production. Bizet finished the score during the summer and was pleased with the outcome: “I have written a work that is all clarity and vivacity, full of color and melody.

When rehearsals began in October 1874, the orchestra had difficulties with the score, finding some parts unplayable. The chorus likewise declared some of their music impossible to sing and were dismayed that they had to act as individuals, smoking and fighting onstage rather than merely standing in line. Bizet also had to counter further attempts at the Opéra-Comique to modify parts of the action which they deemed improper. Only when the leading singers threatened to withdraw from the production did the management give way. Resolving these issues delayed the first night until 3 March 1875.

Much of the press comment was negative, expressing consternation that the heroine was an amoral seductress rather than a woman of virtue. Others complained of a lack of melody and made unfavourable comparisons with the traditional Opéra-Comique fare. The public’s reaction was lukewarm, and Bizet soon became convinced of its failure: “I foresee a definite and hopeless flop”.

Tragically, believing his work was a failure, Bizet died three months later. After a special performance of Carmen at the Opéra-Comique that night, the press, which had almost universally condemned the piece three months earlier, now declared Bizet a master.

Carmen has since become one of the most popular and frequently performed operas in the classical canon; the “Habanera” and “Seguidilla” from act 1 and the “Toreador Song” from act 2 are among the best known of all operatic arias.

The opera is written in the genre of opéra comique with musical numbers separated by dialogue. It is set in southern Spain and tells the story of the downfall of Don José, a naïve soldier who is seduced by the wiles of the fiery gypsy Carmen. José abandons his childhood sweetheart and deserts from his military duties, yet loses Carmen’s love to the glamorous torero Escamillo, after which José kills her in a jealous rage. The depictions of proletarian life, immorality, and lawlessness, and the tragic death of the main character on stage, broke new ground in French opera and were highly controversial.

Here is the “Habanera” being performed by the amazing Latvian Mezzo-Soprano Elina Garanca in a Metropolitan Opera performance. This is where Carmen makes her initial entrance.

and here is the Toreador Song from the same production.

But, of course, Carmen is killed in the end.