Crabs and Beer!

On this day in 1859, construction began on the Suez Canal.

n 1854 and 1856, Ferdinand de Lesseps obtained a concession from Sa’id Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt and Sudan, to create a company to construct a canal open to ships of all nations. The company was to operate the canal for 99 years from its opening.

The British government had opposed the project from the outset to its completion. The British, who controlled both the Cape route and the Overland route to India and the Far East, favored the status quo, given that a canal might disrupt their commercial and maritime supremacy. International opinion was initially skeptical, and shares of the Suez Canal Company did not sell well overseas. Britain, Austria, and Russia did not buy a significant number of shares. With assistance from the Cattaui banking family, and their relationship with James de Rothschild of the French House of Rothschild bonds and shares were successfully promoted in France and other parts of Europe.

Work started on the shore of the future Port Said on 25 April 1859. The excavation took some 10 years, with forced labor (corvée) being employed until 1864 to dig out the canal. Some sources estimate that over 30,000 people were working on the canal at any given period, that more than 1.5 million people from various countries were employed, and that tens of thousands of laborers died, many of them from cholera and similar epidemics.

The canal opened under French control in November 1869. The opening ceremonies began at Port Said on the evening of 15 November, with illuminations, fireworks, and a banquet on the yacht of the Khedive Isma’il Pasha of Egypt and Sudan.

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More signs…….

It’s Friday so sit back and enjoy or, better yet, get up and dance to this. First released in 2012, the song and dance have been viewed billions of times. If you want to sing along, like this crowd did, the lyrics can be found here. An English translation can be found here. Now dance along with Psy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHfZiQEB0tE

Today is the First Day of Summer in Iceland. Known in Icelandic as ‘Sumardagurinn fyrsti’, this holiday is an Icelandic flag day and marks the arrival of the first day of summer.

Given the climate in Iceland, it might seem strange that summer comes so early to Iceland. However, in Iceland, the old Norse calendar was in use by the first settlers to Iceland in the 9th century and it divided the year into only two seasons, vetur (winter) and (sumar) summer.

On Sumardagurinn Fyrsti, children in Iceland receive summer gifts (“sumargjafir.”) A tradition of gift-giving to children on the first day of summer predating the similar Christmas practice by hundreds of years.

Traditionally children were given food as a gift. They might receive bread or other treats as the need to ration food over the winter was ending. The gift was seen as a way of rewarding the children for having had to endure the long winter.

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How to get there:

Today is the birthday, in 1945, of Doug Clifford, drummer with Creedence Clearwater Revival who scored the 1969 US No.2 & UK No.1 single ‘Bad Moon Rising’, and the 1970 US & UK No.1 album Cosmo’s Factory. The band has sold 26 million albums in the United States alone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWijx_AgPiA

St. George’s Day is celebrated annually on 23rd April, as this is the generally accepted date of St. George’s death. St. George, who famously slew the dragon and saved the maiden, is patron of archers, armorers, Boy Scouts, butchers, cavalry, chivalry, Crusaders, equestrians, farmers, field hands, field workers, horsemen, horses, husbandmen, knights, lepers, Order of the Garter, Palestinian Christians, riders, Romanian Army, saddle makers, saddlers, sheep, shepherds, soldiers, Teutonic Knights; Canada; England; Ethiopia; Georgia; Germany; Greece; Lithuania; Malta; Portugal; Cappadocia; Catalonia; Palestine; over 20 cities and diocese around the world.

St. George was a cavalryman in the Roman army at Lydda, now in modern-day Israel. He was a Christian at a time when Rome was ruled by the emperor Diocletian, who was anti-Christian. He refused to make sacrifices to the Roman gods. As a result, he was tortured over several years and eventually suffered a martyr’s death, when he was beheaded in 303 AD.

Not everyone believes the story about the dragon:

To save a Maid, St. George the Dragon slew

A pretty tale if all is told be true

Most say there are no Dragons, and ’tis said

There was no George; pray God there was a Maid.

— John Aubrey, Remains of Gentilism (1688)

St. George and the Dragon – Raphael (National Gallery of Art)

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me too…

Bargain!

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SIGNZ

and no paddle

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Today is the birthday, in 1940, of Dale Houston, American singer who, along with his performing partner, Grace Broussard, hit the Billboard chart as Dale & Grace with two rock and roll singles. The first was the No. 1 gold record ‘I’m Leaving It Up to You’ in 1963. ‘Stop and Think It Over’ reached No. 8 in 1964. Their recordings are highly regarded examples of the Louisiana-Texas style known as “Swamp Pop”. Houston died on 27 September 2007. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5L5i7ARdAY

Today is Earth Day. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally through earthday.org (formerly Earth Day Network)^[1] including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries. Earth Day is a day to demonstrate support for our environment through our actions, advocacy, and education.

Earth Day’s 2025 theme is Our Power, Our Planet, calling for everyone to unite around renewable energy. Remember, this is the only planet we have.

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BADA BING!!!

When Tesla vandalism gets you a 20-year sentence and storming the Capitol earns you a pardon, you have officially reached sh*t-hole country status.

Manager: I don’t think you could be any more sarcastic even if you tried. Me: I really don’t think you want me to test that theory.

Marriage is when one person is always right and the other person is the husband.

Rich people have fancy labels on their clothes. Happy people have dog hair on them.

I misspelled “I’m unstoppable,” and my phone autocorrected to “I’m unstable,” and honestly, that’s fair.

One day you’re young and careless, and the next you have a favorite pharmacy.

“You’re acting weird”. “Okay, well, first, I’m not acting.”

The kid bagging my groceries asked if I wanted paper or plastic. I said you choose. He said baggers can’t be choosers.

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Today is the birthday, in 1956, of American singer, songwriter, Cynthia Johnson best known as the lead singer of the band Lipps Inc who had the 1980 worldwide smash hit ‘Funkytown’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhzy7JaU2Zc

Today is Tiradentes Day, a public holiday in Brazil. Tiradentes Day in Brazil commemorates the execution of Brazilian national hero Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier (August 16th 1746 – April 21st 1792).

Xavier (Tiradentes) was a Brazilian revolutionary who, as a founder of the Inconfidência Mineira movement, fought for Brazilian independence and freedom from Portuguese colonial power. At the time, Portugal was imposing onerous tax burdens on the Brazilians, as they tried to maintain income from the colony despite declining levels of gold being mined.

Tiradentes hatched a plan to take to the streets and declare independence on a day when taxes were due. The plan was betrayed and the rebels were arrested in February 1789. During the subsequent trial, Tiradentes took full responsibility for the insurrection plot and executed by hanging on April 21st 1792. His body was quartered and his head displayed as a warning to other revolutionaries.

Xavier was a dentist by trade. This holiday gets its name from “tiradentes” meaning “tooth-puller”, which was a nickname adopted during his trial.

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On this day in 1990, Paul McCartney played in front of 184,000 fans at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, creating a new world record for the largest crowd attending a rock concert. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OuYLGHkrBk