A to Z 2024: One More Time and You Get a Parade Day

 For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate.  Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day.  I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge.  At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter.  At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together. 

The third Wednesday of April is One More Time and you Get a Parade Day.  

As today's letter is a vowel, it is another opportunity for me to make up a new holiday.  Many holidays come with traditions, games, or events that go along with them.  Easter egg hunts, for example are believed to have originated in Germany in the 16th century.  The first Turkey Trot (a race taking place the morning of Thanksgiving) took place in Buffalo New York in the late 19th century.  One More Time and you Get a Parade Day may be the first holiday that was started to celebrate a tradition rather than the other way around .

My wife and I have been playing a game I invented around the time we got engaged called "What A Thing to Say". It started as a game to play when we were in a social setting that required a lot of mingling.  I believe the original occurrence was at my Grandfather's wake.  I gave my fiancé  a thing to say, I believe it may have been The Almighty Dollar.  Over the course of the event she had to work in the phrase into ordinary conversation 3 different times with 3 different groups of people.  

Some of the original "what a things to say" besides the almighty dollar were, The Stevenson Expressway (A Chicago road), People don't floss like they used, to, and one of my favorites, I don't like blank (whatever person , place or thing just mentioned) they supported the war movement.  

It's a totally random game that when played well is oblivious to all but the player, and when played poorly is a staple of group conversation for a very long time.  

"What does this have to do with parades?" you might ask. A few weeks ago I was subbing in one of my favorite classes.  It was the class in fact, that I had been a long term sub in for the 1st semester of the 2022/2023 school year.  I have a great deal of familiarity with these students and they have a great deal of familiarity with me.  The class is comprised of 6th graders and 7th graders  and one of the 6th graders tends to sneeze 5 or 6 times in a row on a frequent basis. On this particular day, after the 3rd or 4th sneeze I responded with the quip, one more time and you get a parade.

I'm not sure how that phrase came to me.  True, I just made it up,  but, I was definitely thinking something along the line of when you do something multiple times you get a prize.  I don't think I was remembering the below  scene from A Few Good men, it is in my collective unconscious . 

 

One way to  celebrate One More Time and You get a parade day is by playing a version of What a Thing to say with your friends, family, classmates or co-workers.  This could be done virtually or in person.  Each person writes one phrase down and then they are distributed.  Then each person has to use that phrase in a conversatToday'ion throughout the day.  Another way is to try to make up your own expression and use it in the course of the day.  

April is a month that starts with foolishness, but One More Time and You get a Parade say insures that foolishness doesn't end on the first.

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Today's Song is Off Again On Again Love By Allen Levi

I generally put a video on of the song, but as far as I know there are no videos of this song, so here is a link to it on Spotify.    

With this song, my playlist is now up to 15 songs.

It is already 9:15 P.M. in Chicago and this is the latest that I've posted in the challenge so far this year.  I now must go, and work on tomorrow's.  When I finish this one, I might not get a parade, but I will be caught up. That is certainly something to turn a phrase about.

To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!

A to Z 2024: N is for National Wear Your Pajamas To Work Day

 For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate.  Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day.  I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge.  At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter.  At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together. 

April 16th is National Wear Your Pajamas To Work

National Wear Your Pajamas To Work Day was started 10 years ago by PajamaGram.  It is held on April 16th each year to coincide with Tax Day being April 15th.  The idea was to make April 16th a more casual relaxing day for those who may have been up late the night before finishing their taxes.  

Pajama days are very popular at schools.  When there is a spirit week at one of our schools or the alphabet countdown that happens at the end of the year.  There is usually a pajama day.  Before I was a building sub and would go to different schools each day, I would often sub when there was a pajama day, but I wouldn't usually be aware of it until I got to school day.  When I started doing long term subbing, I would get a little more heads up about the coming events.  Maybe for Christmas this year I will ask for Captain America pajamas and then the next pajama day I can bring my Captain America Build-A-Bear AKA Captain Abearica AKA Steve Pawgers to school as well.  

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Song of the Day is Nothing But The Wind by Pierce Pettis

I would like to clarify that when I say that the song is by a certain artist, all I mean is that that artist performs that song on the Spotify playlist.  In the above video, Pettis correctly attrributes the song to the late great Mark Heard.  Speaking of the Spotify mix tape, here it is so far...

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To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!

A to Z 2024: M is for Microvolunteering

For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate.  Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day.  I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge.  At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter.  At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together. 

April 15th is International Micro-volunteering day 

I think the best way to talk about this day is to use FAQ format.  I used to do this quite a bit in the early days of my blog.  The last time I did so was  here back in 2012 when I was blogging about the A t0 Z challenge. .

The FAQS of Life: Micro-volunteering  in Frequently Asked Question Format

Q: Do you know what today is?

A: Yes. 

Q: Are you going to tell me?

A. Perhaps if you asked me, rather than  asked me if I knew.

Q: What is today?

A: It's International Micro-volunteering Day.

Q: Is Micro-volunteering a thing?

A:It must be, if it wasn't, it wouldn't have a holiday.  

Q: When did it become a thing?

A: it's been a thing for almost 20 years.  The term  was first used in the U.K. In 2006 and had migrated to Spain by 2008.

Q: What is Micro-volunteering?

A:This answer is from ot's Days of The Year Page, The idea of micro-volunteering is simple: individuals take convenient, bite-sized actions in support of a good cause and often perform their activities or service from home. 

Q:  How did the day start?

A: Well the day started a minute after 11:59 p.m.   Some people were fast asleep, some were well on their way, others were working 3rd shift jobs, still others, ...

Q: When did International Micro-volunteering Day start.

A:  10 years ago it began when the day was created and promoted by the Help from Home Foundation.

Q: Como se dice International Micro Volunteering Day en Espanol?

A: Día Internacional del Microvoluntariado.

Q: Do you have any suggestions for micro-volunteering?

A: Yes

Q: Are we back to that joke again?

A: Yes

Q: What suggestions do you have for micro-volunteering?

A: I thought you'd never ask. One suggestion is to volunteer doing task that you already know how to do, so there is little to no training involved.  Another is to keep your activities to things that can be done in thirty minute to 2 hour chunks. One examples are to volunteer to read at a school, or day care center, or nursing home.  When my daughter was homeschooled, she would volunteer on a weekly basis for about an hour and a half a week, working at the P.B.I.S (Personal Behavior Incentive System) store at my wife's school.  Children would earn a kind of currency for following the code of the school and then would be able to trade that currency in for prizes.  As a full time substitute teacher, I would imagine there are boundless opportunities for micro-volunteering?

Q: What are some suggestions that could be done from home?

A: My daughters both crochet.  One is in a crochet club.  Some members of her club crochet hats at home  for premature  babies or people having chemo.  People can have baking parties on the holidays and find organizations to donate their creations to.  

 

Q: Do you know why IMVD (International Micro-Volunteering Day) is on April 15th.

A: No, but it is the same day as Tax day here in the U.S. and if I were choosing the day, I would choose April 15th because micro-volunteering is not meant to be taxing.

Q: Did you think of that yourself?

A: Yes, Yes I did. And before you ask yes, that is a Phineas and Ferb referemce.

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I didn't plan this, of course,  but today's song of the day is a frequently asked question of sorts.  The Song is Man or Muppet from The Muppets (2011)

 

M is the 13th letter of the alphabet so my spotify playlist is now half full

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Today was a lot of fun, no question about it.  Micro-volunteering can be fun as well.  In the comments tell me some things that you already know how to do, that might be great as a micro-volunteering opportunity. 

To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!

A tp Z: 2024 L is for Last Weekend of Cherry Blossom Festival

For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate.  Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day.  I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge.  At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter.  At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together. 

Lucy, Amy & Kermit
Smithsonian Museum 2010

April 13th 2024 is the last Saturday of the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C.

The past few days at school  there has been growing excitement for the 8th grade field trip to Washington D.C. which is coming up soon.  My Nephew was over yesterday and he is also is super excited about his 8th grade field trip to Washington D.C. So, when trying to decide between all the April 13th holidays and events I chose an event and a birthday related to D.C. 




The Nationals Cherry Blossom Festival  commemorates the gift of Japanese Cherry Trees in 1912 from the Mayor of Tokyo City to the city of Washington D.C.

Washington Monument with Cherry blossoms in the foreground.

Thomas Jefferson was born April 13,1743

The Jefferson Memorial 2010

Charlie and C3P0 at the Smithsonian

L is also for Lincoln

 

These pictures were take on our family trip to Washington D.C. 2010

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Song of the day: Let's Get Married by The Proclaimers 

2 weeks into the challenge and we are up to 12 songs on the playlist

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To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!

A to Z: 2024 K is for космонавт (cosmonaut)

For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate.  Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day.  I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge.  At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter.  At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together.

April 12th Yuri Gagarian is the first man in space

63 years ago today the Russians beat the U.S into space again.  This time, Yuri Gagarian became the first person in space.  This You Tube video shows some footage from the event.  

 

Just in case you don't read Russian, the text  below the video translates into English as:

 On April 12, 1961, the Vostok spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome for the first time in the world, with pilot-cosmonaut Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin on board. For this feat, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and starting from April 12, 1962, the day of Gagarin's flight into space was declared a holiday - Cosmonautics Day. On September 27, 2010, by decision of the 65th session of the UN General Assembly, April 12 was proclaimed the International Day of Human Space Flight, which will be celebrated annually at the international level.

I decided to copy a couple of the you-tube comments and show them in Russian , and then in Russian printed phonetically in English and  then finally translated by google translate into English.  

The first comment is from @elenadushyna8975 from 1 year ago

Все молодцы!! И Королев! И Гагарин! И все остальные неизвестные, кто причастны к этому великому событию!!! 

 Vse molodtsy!! I Korolev! I Gagarin! I vse ostal'nyye neizvestnyye, kto prichastny k etomu velikomu sobytiyu!!! 

 Well done everyone!! And Korolev! And Gagarin! And all the other unknowns who are involved in this great event!!! 

The second comment is from LarussaShudrova from 8 years ago

 Спасибо за воспоминания! Спасибо! Помню, какую испытала гордость за страну, когда передавали по радио сообщение о полёте человека в космос. В душе всё пело.

 Spasibo za vospominaniya! Spasibo! Pomnyu, kakuyu ispytala gordost' za stranu, kogda peredavali po radio soobshcheniye o polote cheloveka v kosmos. V dushe vso pelo. 

 Thank you for the memories! Thank you! I remember how proud I felt for the country when they broadcast a message on the radio about man’s flight into space. Everything was singing in my soul.

What strikes me about the coverage and the comments is the great sense of accomplishment.  I lived in Russia for 2 years from 1992 to 1994 right after the Soviet Union was dissolved.  It became clear to me fairly quickly is that people are very similar regardless of what country they are from and being proud of your country is certainly not something the U.S. has a monopoly on.

By Mil.ru, CC BY 4.0, Link

April 12th Yuri Gagarian is the first man in space.  

Gagarian died almost 7 years later in a routine training flight.

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The song of the day is Keep Me Running performed by Ashley Cleveland

Randy Stonehill wrote and performed the song on his 1976 album Welcome to Paradise.  The below video features a young Stonehill performing the song.

 

 Stonehill turned 72 earlier this year and I made this post to celebrate.

To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!

A To Z 2024: J is for Just Married (26 Years Ago)

For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate.  Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day.  I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge.  At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter.  At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together. 

April 11th is Dave and Amy Roller's wedding anniversary.

I was trying to justify not pulling a random holiday from the April 11th list and just writing about my wedding anniversary when I realized there is no justification needed.  The 3rd sentence in the above paragraph says it all, " Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day." My anniversary is an event taking place today and my titling the post Just Married (26 years ago), I have, in the words of Paul Hollywood, ticked all the boxes.

Yesterday morning my daughter was getting ready for her writing class at the same time I was getting ready for school.  She went towards the door and then came back saying, she had forgotten her glasses. Before I could stop myself I blurted out the line, "He can't see without his glasses". 

This is a line from the 1991 movie "My Girl".  My son recites this line quite a bit. A, because he like's to make fun of it and B, because it annoys his sisters.  If you've ever been  a brother or a sister you don't need me to say, not necessarily in that order.

As I was driving to work, while ruminating on that film, a memory popped in my head from almost 33 years ago when that film was in theatres.  At the time I was in a long distance relationship, and because it was the winter Holidays we were both in the Chicago area where our families both lived .  

We went to the Woodfield Mall to see the aforementioned film.  After the film I remember telling her on an escalator talking about the film and in that context  said something about wanting to grow old with her, (my girlfriend).  I don't know which direction we were on in the escalator, but things started going downhill after that. Because, shortly after I made that comment to her we were broken up, and I'm not sure but I don't think I even saw her again after that.

I remember going back to my parents house and calling up my best friend and spilling  all the  sordid details.  You ever have a friend you could tell anything, do anything with, share your secrets and keep theirs?  That's what I had with my best friend back in January of 1992.  26 years ago today I married her.

Lots has changed since I saw My Girl with someone who out turned out not to be my girl at all.  Woodfield Mall no longer has movie theatres, My parents no longer live at my boyhood home, I no longer need to use a landline to call my best friend, cause quite often we are together and when were not I just tell my phone to call her.  

But Amy and I are growing old together.  As Rowlf the Dog sang so eloquently in 1979, "The urge was righteous but the face was wrong."  But in my case something better didn't come along, she had been there all along.  

Amy and I love movies.  We watch them, re watch them, quote them, and watch them again.  One movie we enjoy is The Wedding Singer, a movie about friends who fell in love, like us.  In the final scene he confesses his love in a song he wrote called "Grow Old With You."

Songs also play a part of our friendship.  When I was living in Russia, I once wrote her a song about our friendship which is really a love song, we just didn't know it yet.  I wrote her another song and sang it for her as I proposed.  I wrote another song and a choir from our church sang it as we walked down the aisle after we had just been declared man and wife.  

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Our marriage is not perfect.  A few years ago we read a book together, called "When Sinner's say I do". The basic premise imperfect people cannot have a perfect relationship.  I certainly am not perfect.  She tells me she's not perfect, so I believe her.  She is certainly the person I want to spend the rest of my life with.  This August we will celebrate 34 years of friendship.  Each day I grow older with my dear friend Amy is worthy of a celebration. Not just a celebration, but each day with Amy is a Holiday in itself.  

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Today's song of the day is Jack and Jill Part II by the Gray Havens

I chose the songs for the A to Z playlist this February and March, and just decided today that I was going to write about Amy and Myself for J.  So I didn't really plan a connection between the holiday and the song of the day.  It turns out there is one, but it's very slight.  After Amy and I were married for a couple years, we moved into our first house and preceded to have our 2nd and third child.  During that time we were attending a church that met at Crystal Lake South High School.  I don't know if you've ever attended a church at a  school before.  I have on several occasions.  One thing that happens is all the accoutrements of the school for the most part stay right where they are even on Sunday.  So over the years we saw many homecoming posters and other things on the wall of our "church building".  One such poster was celebrating the fact that one of their seniors had just made it into the top 20 of Season 5 of American Idol.

This young man, David Radford, would later become part of the folk duo, The Gray Havens along with his wife  Licia.  Like I said it's a slight connection.  The Spotify playlist is big enough now to have a top 10.  

Yes as far as Holidays are concerned, the anniversary of the day I married my best friend is a pretty big one.  Feel free to comment and tell me about your love story if you care to.  

To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!

Obligatory Eclipse Post

There was an eclipse earlier this week, maybe you heard of it. My school was able to watch it and we hit 94% totality in Algonquin, Illinois. My Son Charlie went to Sycamore, Ohio which was in 100% totality for a cubing event. They provided glasses for all their participants and took a break from the competition to experience the eclipse. 

He just came home yesterday from the event and we haven't had a lot of time to talk about it yet.  I was able to find some footage on  You Tube, maybe you've heard of it (I know I just made that joke in paragraph one), of the Eclipse as it appeared in Sycamore on Monday. 

 

Time Lapse of Eclipse

Eclipse in real time.

A To Z 2924:I is for Indicted Illinois Governors Day

For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate.  Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day.  I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge.  At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter.  At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together. 

April 10th is Indicted Illinois Governors Day

In U.S. history there have been 25 state governors  who have been convicted of federal crimes.  4 of these have come from the state of Illinois.  .  That's righr 4 of the last 10 Illinois governors have served in federal prisons.  

As a non public official of the state of Illinois with all the power invested in me by this great state, I proclaim April 10th as Indicted Illinois Governors Day.  

There have actually been 5 Illinois governors to be indicted. 

Joel Aldrich Matteson, the 10th governor of Illinois (1853-1857) was charged in 1859  in the Canal Scrip Fraud Scandal.  Matteson redeemed Scrip for the Canal for himself.  He was indicted but then acquitted and returned the majority of the funds to the state.  

Otto Kerner Jr,  was governor of Illinois from 1961-1968.  In 1972 He was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals when he was indicted on multiple charges including mail fraud, & income tax evasions.  Charges he was eventually convicted og.  Kerner served six months on a three year sentence.  His crimes went back to 1962 when as a governor he colluded with race track owners. 

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Dan Walker was governor of Illinois from 1973-1977.  Unlike Kerner, Walkers convictions came from crimes committed after his time as governor. As CEO of a savings and loan siphoned bank money for his own use,  Walker was indicted, convicted and served 17 months of a seven year sentence.

George Ryan was governor of Illinois from 1999-2003 and was the Il Secretary of State prior to that,  As Secretary of State he presided  over a huge bribes for licenses scheme.  This scheme was exposed after a truck killed 6 children in the same family  and it was revealed that the trucker had paid bribes for his license.  Ryan  was sentenced to 6 1/2 years of prison and was released in 2013.

Rod Blagojevich was governor of Illinois form 2002 - 2009 when he was impeached by the Illinois General Assembly.  When Blagojevich (Blago) rand in 2002 his mantra was no more business as usual.  This was in the wake of the Ryan scandals.  The problem is Blago missed his own memo, and went back to business as usual, and business was booming.  Blago was caught on tape trying to sell the senate seat of President Elect Obama, and was charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and solicitation of bribery.  He was convicted and sentenced to 14 years and was in prison from 2012 to 2020 when hw was pardoned by Donald Trump.

While it's true that our last 3 governors have not gone to jail.  We could use the growth mindset, and say they have not gone to jail yet.  Why do so many of the governors of my state go to jail.  It may just be a matter of linguistical expectations.  What do governors and convicts have in common.  They both serve terms.  So in a way their first career sets up their second.  

While I made up this holiday, I unfortunately did not make up the history.  

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Song of the day: I Believe In You - Bob Dylan

The playlist is really taking shape now.   

That's it for me .  Feel free to add a comment before moving on with your day.

To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!

Bo Knows Comebacks: White Sox Home Opener Pinch Hit HR

Bo Jackson was an amazing athlete. He was a three sport star (Football, Baseball and Track) at Auburn. In Football he won the 1985 Heismann Trophy. He played Football for the Oakland Raiders and Baseball for the Kansas City Royals.  He played in a Pro Bowl and in A MLB All Star Game. He had to give up football because of  a  hip injury. Because of the injury , the Royals release Jackson on March 18th, 1991.  

16 days later the White Sox gave Bo a 3 year incentive laden contract. He played a handful of games in 1991, spent 1992 rehabbing his knee and on April 9th 1993.  Bo came to the plate as a pinch hitter in the White Sox home opener and did this...

                     

On March 13th of this year the Kansas City Royals announced that Bo Jackson had been elected to the Royals Hall of Fame and will be inducted this summer.

A to Z: H is for the Home of Haggis

For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate.  Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day.  I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge.  At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter.  At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together. 

April is Scottish Heritage Month

March 30th - April 14th Edinburgh Science Festival

Today is the day to celebrate Scotland from both sides of the pond.  

Here are 10 Things about Either Scotland of the Science Festival:

1. The Proclaimers are from Scotland.  Here is a great song of theirs called appropriately enough, Scotland's Story.

 

2. Haggis is the national dish of Scotland.

, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

3. Scotland is a country and is part of the United Kingdom,

4. Golf originated in Scotland.

18th hole of St. Andrews and Clubhouse

Von paul birrell, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

5. David Tenant voices Scrooge McDuck on DuckTails and they are both from Scotland!

Carl Barks Donald Duck artist at Comiccon  , CC BY 2.0, Link

6. Edinburgh is the Capital of Scotland.

, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

7. The Edinburgh Science Festival began in 1989.

An Experiment being demonstrated - Edinburg International Science Festival 2014 , CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

8. The festival "was the worlds first public celebration of science and technology as a festival."

9. The festival has over 250 events for families and adults.

10.  Valentina Treshkova, spoke at the inaugural festival in 1989, 26 years after becoming the first woman in space.

By Leo Medvedev/Лев Леонидович Медведев, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

 

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The Song of the Day is He Reigns by The Newsboys

  

This gets the Leap Of Dave A to Z challenge Spotify playlist to about a third of it's capacity.   

 That's all for today.  Leave a comment about why you like Scotland, Science, both or neither.  

To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!

A to Z 2024: G is for Going to the Zoo

For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate.  Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day.  I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge.  At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter.  At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together. 

April 8th is National Zoo Lovers Day

I love zoos.  I'm not sure exactly when I fell in love with them .  It may have been all the times Dr. Lester Fisher visited the Ray Rayner show when I was a kid on a segment called Ark in the Park.  Dr. Fisher was the director of the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.  It could have been on my trips to the Brookfield Zoo when I was a kid, I know I had one birthday party there.  It  may have even been when my grandparents would take my brother and sister and myself to the aforementioned Lincoln Park Zoo.  It may have been all of those things and more.  

Here is a link to one of our other blogs that shows a great video from a family trip (sans me) to the Brookfield Zoo.  

I really enjoying going to free zoo's.  Here is an article from February of this year talking about 12 such zoos (I've been at 3 through 6). 

# 6 The St. Louis was the most recent zoo I visited.  Here are some pictures form my trip in March

My favorite animal, the giraffe at the St. Louis Zoo

In my 2015 A to Z challenge

G was for giraffe poop

Raja The Elephant at the St. Louis Zoo

Raja has been at the zoo for 30+ years

He will be moving to Columbus Ohio in 2024 or 2025

An Amur Leopard at the St. Louis Zoo

I went to the zoo with my dear friend Dave Hendrick

We were both missionaries in Khabarovsk Russia in the early 1990's

Khabarovsk is situated  on the Amur River

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Speaking of animals: Today's song of the day is Gonna Buy Me A Dog by The Monkees

7 songs in my A to Z playlist looks like this

 

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Today is also the day for the total solar eclipse.  We will be watching it at school today.  The next one won't me in the U.S. until August 23rd 2044.  Instead of pushing 60 like I am now it will be exactly a month before my schedule 80th birthday.  My Dad turned 86 on March 23rd and he will be watching it with my Mom and brother.  So that's older than I will be next next time.

Will you be watching the eclipse today?  Do you enjoy zoos?  Answer either or both of these questions in the comment section.

 To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!

A to Z 2024: F is for Final Words

For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate.  Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day.  I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge.  At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter.  At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together. 

April 6th is Plan Your Epitaph Day

By John Salmon, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

 

The first Plan your Epitaph Day was in 1995.  

I decided to do something a little different today in describing the holiday.  Instead of using my own words I am going to use some of the text found on the Plan Your Epitaph Day webpage from Daysoftheyear.com It's not the entire text just some snippets

There comes a day in every person’s life when they have to face the inevitable, 

. This day, Plan Your Own Epitaph Day, is the perfect day to set aside some time to figure out what you’re going to have to say about yourself before you’re gone.

, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

Ludolph van Ceulen had the first 35 digits of Pi inscribed on his tombstone, as he was the first to calculate this delicious sounding number out to that many decimals. 

 Some of the activities you can do to celebrate this day, is go to graveyards and look for inspiration in the stones of those who have already passed. 

 

this is one more way to collect Epitaphs that have already been written to help inspire you to write yours! 

 Another thing you can do to celebrate this pasttime is to have picnics in the graveyard with likeminded friends. 

Together you can sit and brainstorm on what you’d like your final words to the world to be. 

 

Plan your own Epitaph day is a day for reflection on our own mortality, and thinking forward to what kind of legacy we want to leave behind for those who come after us.

 So take some time to think about where you’ve been, what you’ve done, and what you’d like to say to those who come after,

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April is also  National Poetry Month.  I have decided to write a poem about today's holiday.  Mainly because I didn't create much of my own content today.

Today's poem will be a limerick

Today plan your own epitaph

Play it straight or go for the laugh

But don't wait 'til next June

Best to do it soon

You can't chart your last day on a graph.

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Here is another quick poem

Today's song of the day

is Fear by Lecrae

The Spotify pla list for my A to Z challenge is now a week old and 6 songs long.   

Well Week 1 is in the books.  Feel free to catch up on any of my posts you may have missed.  In your comments, you can let me know what words you might consider as an epitaph.  

To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!

E is For Engaged Couples Friday

For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate.  Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day.  I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge.  At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter.  At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together. 

The Fist Friday in April - Wedding Planning Black Friday

Since today's letter of the day is a vowel it's time once again to create a new holiday.  

Wedding Planners Black Friday is held annually on the first Friday of April.  It was created by Dave Roller for his 2024 A to Z challenge and was first celebrated on April 5th 2024.  The date was chosen for 3 reasons.  First because the first Friday in April takes place 4  to 10 days before April 11th, the day Dave married his friend Amy. Second, because April is already National Couples Month. Finally, because the first week of April is 2 -3 months before June weddings take place.

Wedding Planner's Black Friday is the perfect day for engaged couples  to call off work and spend some couple time before the big event.  It is also a great time for the wedding professionals (dee jays, florists, ministers, venues, travel agencies, photographers, etc.) to have seasonal specials ala Black Friday.

Wedding Planner's Black Friday  could also be a great day to hold either an engagement party or a wedding shower.  It is the first week of April, so there might be a shower anyway.

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April 5th is also National Deep Dish Pizza Day and the first Friday of April is National Walk to Work Day

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Today's song of the day is Emma by , Jonathan Edwards

Emma is a song from the 1971 self titled debut album by Jonathan Edwards.  This album featured the hit Sunshine.  Jonathan Edwards music is often recommended to me on Spotify. I originally listened to this song because my oldest daughters name is Emma.  The video below is from a concert almost 10 years ago.  Edwards, 84 released his most recent album in 2021 and was performing as recently as March 2023

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My Leap of Dave 2024  A to Z Blogging Playlist now looks (and sounds) like this

Engaged, Married, or whatever degree of single you find yourself.  I am glad you stopped by today.  Please leave a comment.  Perhaps you can answer this question: What is the best Wedding Present you have ever given or received?

To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!

A to Z 2024: D is for Discover National Parks

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For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate.  Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day.  I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge.  At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter.  At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together. 

Today's Holiday is Discover National Parks Fortnight

Today April 4th 2024 is the first day of Discover National Parks Fortnight.  The holiday runs from April 4th to April 17th and celebrates the national park system of the United Kingdom. Don't confuse this holiday with National park week in the U.S.  this year that's April 20th through April 28th which is actually a week and 2 days.  Discover National Parks Fortnight is 14 days which is the correct length for a fortnight.

I have never been to the United Kingdom but I am aware of a few of their National Parks.

The Peak District

A moorland scene Pic taken from the path to Lad's Leap, centre skyline is the Pennine Way to Black Hill with Bareholme Moss to the right.

By John Fielding, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

Alport Dale. Looking southeast down the dale, Alport Castles is on the skyline with the Towers just centre right.By Eirian Evans, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

The Lake District

The A591 road as it passes through the countryside between Ambleside and Grasmere in the Lake District, England.

, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

An image of Blackbeck Tarn, a small tarn (lake) atop Haystacks, a large hill in Lake District National Park, Cumbria, England, United Kingdom. This image was taken in April of 2021

There are many other National Parks in the U.K. that I am  not that familiar with.  

Cairngarms is the largest National Park in the U.K. and is located in Scotland and  apparently, it has moose.

, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

Snowdonia is a National Park in Wales and if the picture below is any indication it is strikingly beautiful.

, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link

  To find out more how to celebrate Discover National Park Fortnight click here.

 

Today's song of the day is Dance Stop by Daniel Amos.

 

 This unfortunately is the first of the songs of the day where I could not find concert footage of the song.  The A to Z  playlist is now up to 4 songs.

  

Whew! It feels like it took a fortnight to get this post out.  If you comment let me know if you've ever visited a U.K. National Park and what your experience was therein.  Also, if you could spend 14 days exploring any new place where would it be?  For me it, would be more Greek Islands, if my lovely wife was joining me  for the adventure.  

To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!

A to Z 2024: C is for Cinematic Compositions

For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate.  Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day.  I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge.  At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter.  At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together. 

Today's Holiday: National Film Score Day

April 3rd is National Film Score Day.  It is held every year on this day to commemorate the release of the Jungle Book in 1942.  According to National Today that day was chosen because Miklos Rosza's score was  so transformative  that they chose the  date  of the "release of 'The Jungle Book' to mark the first time film scores acquired importance.

Here is the trailer for the Jungle Book which features some of the score.

The reasoning for the choice is date is a bit of an exaggeration.  Film scores had already acquired importance by 1942. I know this for a few reasons one is that by the mid 1930's The Academy of Motion Picture Sciences was already giving out Academy Awards for best Score.  In1939, for example Erich Wolfgang Korngold won the Academy Award for the score for The Adventures of Robin Hood.

I don't have a top 10 list of film score composers, but it sounds like a kind of  thing I should have.  That list would almost certainly include the composers of some of my favorite scores of all time like the aforementioned Korngold (Adventures of Robin Hood),  Dimitri Tiomkin (High Noon), Vangelis (Chariots of Fire), and John Williams (Star Wars).  

In addition, The 2006 rom com The Holiday has a great scene in it where Jack Black who is playing a film score composer is in a Blockbuster and is explaining as only Jack Black can  how great film scores can be.  It also features a killer cameo by Dustin Hoffman and I have it all queued up for you, so enjoy.

To see a longer clip of the same scene click here.  (The longer scene includes some plot points and may be confusing to those  who have not  yet seen the film.)

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Today's song of the day is Coast to Coast by Noel Paul Stookey & Bodyworks.

 

That brings the number of songs in the Leap of Dave 2024 Blogging A to Z Playlist up to 3.

Note: If you look at theses posts any time after the day they drop, which is certainly fine and encouraged, the playlist will go up to the date you are looking at the post.

So that ends the film on the letter C. I think you know the score.  (I made the exact same kind of joke at this point in yesterdays post.  If you don't remember, o don't believe me  you can always click here. Before you go , feel free to leave a comment.  Do you like movie scores?  Do you have a favorite? 

Oh, speaking of comments, here is an unabashed plug.  Feel free to check out some of my other posts from before the challenge began.  I don't get a lot of traffic on the blog outside of the challenge, and while I mostly blog for my own amusement, and enlightenment.  I wouldn't mind amusing and enlightening a bigger audience.  So check out of my previous posts, here is the last one I did before the challenge began. If you do check them out maybe you can leave a comment there as well.  Thank you very much.  This way if you like what I'm cooking, you can continue to join me after the challenge.  

To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!