Month: February 2025

On this day in 1974, Patty Hearst, the 19-year-old granddaughter of newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, was kidnapped from her apartment in Berkeley, California, by three armed strangers. Witnesses reported seeing a struggling Hearst being carried away blindfolded, and she was put in the trunk of a car. Neighbors who came out into the street were forced to take cover after the kidnappers fired their guns to cover their escape.

Three days later, the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a small U.S. leftist group, announced in a letter to a Berkeley radio station that it was holding Hearst as a “prisoner of war.” Four days later, the SLA demanded that the Hearst family give $70 in foodstuffs to every needy person from Santa Rosa to Los Angeles. This done, said the SLA, negotiation would begin for the return of Patricia Hearst. Randolph Hearst hesitantly gave away some $2 million worth of food. The SLA then called this inadequate and asked for $6 million more. The Hearst Corporation said it would donate the additional sum if Patty was released unharmed.

In April, however, the situation changed dramatically when a surveillance camera took a photo of Hearst participating in an armed robbery of a San Francisco bank, and she was also spotted during a robbery of a Los Angeles store. She later declared, in a tape sent to the authorities, that she had joined the SLA of her own free will.

Finally, on September 18, 1975, after crisscrossing the country with her captors—or conspirators—for more than a year, Hearst, or “Tania” as she called herself, was captured in a San Francisco apartment and arrested for armed robbery. Despite her claim that she had been brainwashed by the SLA, she was convicted on March 20, 1976, and sentenced to seven years in prison. She served 21 months before her sentence was commuted by President Carter.

Butterhenge

SSIIGGGNNNZZZZZ

Today is the birthday, in 1947, of Margie and Mary Ann Ganser, vocalists for The Shangri-Las, who had a 1964 US No.1 & UK No.11 single with ‘Leader Of The Pack’. Mary Ann died in New York on March 15, 1970, aged 22, of a drug overdose. Margie died of breast cancer on July 28th 1996 age 48. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5YxtweUxrA

St. Brigid’s Day (Gaelic: Lá Fhéile Bríde) is celebrated on February 1st but the public holiday in Ireland takes place on the first Monday in February each year.

St. Brigid is one of the three Patron Saints of Ireland, the other two are St. Columba and of course, St.Patrick. Brigid is a Catholic and Orthodox saint. She was a pupil of St. Patrick and became famous for her kindness, mercy, and her miracles. In addition, Brigid founded Ireland’s most famous mixed (male and female) monastery in County Kildare.

In The Life of Brigid, her biographer, Cogitosus, recorded that Brigid formed an alliance with the hermit Conleth and, together, they created a double monastery from the Early Christian tradition. She was abbess and he was bishop. Within 100 years of her death, there was a thriving, egalitarian monastery of men and women, living and practicing their spirituality equally, side by side.

When Brigid was refused by the King of Leinster the land to build a convent, she asked if she could have as much land as her cloak would cover. The King allowed this, but was surprised to see Brigid’s cloak grow and grow, as four of her friends took a corner each and walked pulled the cloak to cover many acres. The King then granted St. Brigid the land, and any other supplies she required, before converting to Christianity soon after.

At the same time, the legends about Saint Brigid echo the myths and legends about the three-faced Celtic fertility goddess Brigid – the goddess of war, poetry, crafts, and healing. It is worth noting that before the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, the feast of the goddess Brigid was also celebrated on February 1st, the first day of Spring in the Celtic calendar.

Brigid’s cross is typically woven on February 1st, her feast day, as well as the festival of Imbolc in pre-Christian Ireland. Hanging Brigid’s cross from the rafters of a house was believed to bring the blessing and protection of the saint for the remainder of the year.

The healthy people among us…

Hot peppers…

Today is the birthday, in 1947, of American singer-songwriter Melanie Safka. She scored the 1971 US No.1 & 1972 UK No.4 single ‘Brand New Key’, and had hits with her 1970 version of the Rolling Stones’ ‘Ruby Tuesday’, her composition ‘What Have They Done to My Song Ma’ and her 1970 international breakthrough hit ‘Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)’, which was inspired by her experience of performing at the 1969 Woodstock Festival. In 2007, Melanie was invited by Jarvis Cocker to perform at the Meltdown Festival at the Royal Festival Hall in London. She died on 23 January 2024, at the age of 76. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCTMTflcuug