Today The Hindu ‘festival of colors’, Holi, is celebrated in many parts of the world. Holi was originally a festival to celebrate the start of Spring, good harvests and fertility of the land. The first mentions of it date back to a poem from the 4th century.
Today it is better known as a symbolic commemoration of a legend from Hindu Mythology. The story is that there was once a king who resented his son, Prince Prahlada, worshiping Lord Vishnu. He tries to murder the prince on several occasions but fails each time.
Finally, the king’s sister Holika who is said to be immune to burning sits with the boy inside a fire. However, the prince emerges unhurt, while his aunt burns in the fire and dies. Huge bonfires are burnt on the eve of Holi as a symbolic representation of Holika’s cremation.
The tradition of throwing brightly colored powder and water is said to come from the love story between two Hindu gods, Radha and Krishna. Krishna is famously depicted as having bright blue skin and the legend has it that he was sad he didn’t have a fair complexion like Radha. He told his mother about this and she suggested that instead of wishing for fair skin, he should instead smear Radha with paint, so they both have coloured skin; hence the tradition of trying to ‘color’ others as a sign of affection at Holi.
Bad day for someone…
Looks pretty suspicious…
Another reason to stop smoking…
Today is the birthday, in 1945, of James O’Rourke, guitarist and singer with John Fred & His Playboy Band who scored the 1968 US No.1 & UK No.3 single ‘Judy In Disguise’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaWaQBxc0aI
Today is the anniversary of the Martyrdom of Hypatia of Alexandria in 415. Hypatia was a Neoplatonist philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician who lived in Alexandria, Egypt: at that time a major city of the Eastern Roman Empire. In Alexandria, Hypatia was a prominent thinker who taught subjects including philosophy and astronomy., and in her lifetime was renowned as a great teacher and a wise counselor.
She wrote a commentary on Diophantus’s thirteen-volume Arithmetica, which may survive in part, having been interpolated into Diophantus’s original text, and another commentary on Apollonius of Perga’s treatise on conic sections, which has not survived. Many modern scholars also believe that Hypatia may have edited the surviving text of Ptolemy’s Almagest, based on the title of her father Theon’s commentary on Book III of the Almagest.
Hypatia constructed astrolabes and hydrometers, but did not invent either of these, which were both in use long before she was born. She was tolerant toward Christians and taught many Christian students, including Synesius, the future bishop of Ptolemais. Ancient sources record that Hypatia was widely beloved by pagans and Christians alike and that she established great influence with the political elite in Alexandria.
She was murdered by a mob of Christians because she was female, smart and pagan. They dragged her into a building known as the Kaisarion, a former pagan temple and center of the Roman imperial cult in Alexandria that had been converted into a Christian church. There, the mob stripped Hypatia naked and murdered her. Damascius adds that they also cut out her eyeballs. They tore her body into pieces and dragged her limbs through the town to a place called Cinarion, where they set them on fire.
There have been numerous books written about or including Hypatia and a couple of movies. She is considered by some to be the first ‘witch’ punished by Christians.
Back when hospitals were fun! (and you could smoke
SIGNS ——
Today is the birthday, in 1957, of Marlon Jackson, from American family music group The Jackson 5. They were the first group to debut with four consecutive No.1 hits on the Hot 100 with the songs ‘I Want You Back’, ‘ABC’, ‘The Love You Save’, and ‘I’ll Be There’. And with The Jacksons, had the 1979 hit ‘Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3Q80mk7bxE
On this day in 1845, unhappy with the interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi, Hone Heke and other Maori chiefs and warriors cut down the flagpole at Kororakera (then capital of New Zealand) precipitating the Flagstaff War.
The Treaty, the foundational document of New Zealand, had several notable differences between the Maori version and the English version. A bill this year to reinterpret the treaty has generated substantial opposition and would amount, in the view of many, to represent a breach of the treaty. In parliament, one of the youngest members, 22-year old Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke led a haka to protest the bill.
Bada Bing!!
Why do underwear and socks come in resealable bags but potato chips don’t?
Porn gives young people an unrealistic and unhealthy idea of how quickly a plumber will come to your house.
I’m still waiting for someone to explain how a 78-year-old can grow a brand-new ear but somehow couldn’t recover from bone spurs in his youth.
My son is taking part in a social experiment. He has to wear a “GO Vegan” t-shirt for 2 weeks and see how people react. So far, he’s been spit on, punched, and had a bottle thrown at him. I’m curious to see what happens when he goes outside.
Why are people allowed to be stupid but I’m not allowed to point it out?
Der Furor’s doing quite a job – the stock market is falling faster than a Russian from a tenth-floor window.
I’ve walked the walk and talked the talk. At my age I’m just gonna sit the sit.
For the first time in history you can simply post, “He’s an idiot”, and 90% of the world will know who you’re talking about.
I still can’t believe over 70-million people booked a second trip on the Titanic.
As the saying goes, we want to be open-minded, but not so open that our brains fall out.
“Hooray! English is the official language of the USA!” 54 percent of you read at or below a 6th grade level. 21 percent of you are functionally illiterate. No it isn’t.
You’re not a parent until you’ve secretly wished your child’s sports team does bad in a tournament so you can go home early.
I’m trying to stop being mean but it’s like y’all have to stop being stupid first.
Way to go, MAGA voters. Now you actually have the horrible economy that you pretended to have under Biden and Obama.
There is zero history of hurricanes in the Gulf of America. When are the insurance premiums going to drop? (Spell checker tried to correct the Gulf of America)
One time a guy showed me a picture and said, “Here’s a picture of me when I was younger”. I told him, “Every picture of you is a picture of you when you were younger”.
Fun Fact: a blue whale’s anus can stretch to approximately 3.5 feet in diameter. That makes it the second biggest asshole in the world.
On this day in 2008, Madonna was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a star-studded ceremony in New York City, she received her honor at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel from singer Justin Timberlake. The 49-year-old thanked her detractors in an acceptance speech, including those who ‘said I couldn’t sing, that I was a One Hit Wonder’. Rock star John Mellencamp, Leonard Cohen, The Ventures and The Dave Clark Five were also among the inductees. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpzdgmqIHOQ
Today is Commonwealth Day, the annual celebration of the Commonwealth of Nations held on the second Monday of March. The Commonwealth of Nations is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire from which it developed. They are connected through their use of the English language and historical-cultural ties.
The event traces its origins to Empire Day, an event initially conceived to celebrate the British Empire. It was originally observed on Queen Victoria’s birthdate, May 24th, or the last weekday before it. In the latter half of the 20th century, the celebration’s focus shifted towards emphasising the modern Commonwealth of Nations, with the event being renamed Commonwealth Day in 1958, and its date moved to the second Monday in March in 1977.
At its height in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the British Empire became the largest empire in history and, for a century, was the foremost global power. By 1913, the British Empire held sway over 412 million people, 23 percent of the world population at the time, and by 1920, it covered 35.5 million km2 (13.7 million sq mi), 24 per cent of the Earth’s total land area. As a result, its constitutional, legal, linguistic, and cultural legacy is widespread.
Amazing Cats
Today is the birthday, in 1940, of Dean Torrence, who with Jan and Dean had the 1963 US No.1 & UK No.26, single ‘Surf City’, co written by The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson). Jan and Dean were pioneers of the California Sound and vocal surf music styles. Other hits include, Subsequent top 10 hits included ‘Drag City’ , ‘Dead Man’s Curve’ and ‘The Little Old Lady from Pasadena.’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYxPgFUjDpA
Today is the anniversary of ‘Bloody Sunday’. On this day in 1965, Civil rights marchers began their march from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama to advocate for African-Americans to be able to exercise their constitutional right to vote. The march was ended by state troopers and county possemen, who charged on about 600 unarmed protesters with batons and tear gas after they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in the direction of Montgomery.
Law enforcement beat one of the leaders, Amelia Boynton unconscious, and the media publicized worldwide a picture of her lying wounded on the bridge. The second march took place two days later but King cut it short as a federal court issued a temporary injunction against further marches. That night, an anti-civil rights group murdered civil rights activist James Reeb, a Unitarian Universalist minister from Boston.
The violence of “Bloody Sunday” and Reeb’s murder resulted in a national outcry, and the marches were widely discussed in national and international news media. The protesters campaigned for a new federal voting rights law to enable African Americans to register and vote without harassment. President Lyndon B. Johnson seized the opportunity and held a historic, nationally televised joint session of Congress on March 15, asking lawmakers to pass what is now known as the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It was passed and he signed it on August 6, removing obstacles for Blacks to register.
Work from home??
Simone Weil…
There have been some great album covers, but some have been not so great…
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