Full documentary: The Edmund Fitzgerald (2025)

50 Years ago today the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior. The disaster inspired Gordon Lightfoot's 1976 hit "The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald"

If You get a chance you may enjoy this hour long documentary.

Writers Workshop: 13 Lines about five things I enjoyed in 6th grade. (Paragraphy Edition)

Writer's Workshop is taking place again at The Sound of One Hand Typing.

Here are this week’s prompts: (The ones I chose are in bold.)

1.  Write a post based on the word grudges. 
2. Write a post in exactly 13 lines. 
3. Write about something you learned in the month of February. 
4. List your five favorite snack foods. 
5. Tell us about the worst haircut you ever had. 
6. What are the five things you enjoyed doing the most when you were in sixth grade? Do you still enjoy doing them?

 

1. I have adjusted that to be exactly 13 sentences.
2. In 1975 when I started 6th grade, I was a huge White Sox fan.
3. In 6th grade I was still in the school band and I played the saxophone, I liked playing but was never very good at it, so that was my last year.
4. They are still two passions of mine.
5. I have been wanting for some years to write a  post using Paragraphy and will try to do that today.
6. The other two were baseball and bicycling.
7. Back then I was quite the television watcher and had the network schedule memorized.
8. Fifty years later I still am.
9. How Paragraphy works is you write a paragraph and then the sentences are randomly reordered.
10. Even now when I hear about an old show, the first thing I think of is what network it was on and what day it aired.
11. I will also try to remember back almost 50 years ago when I was in the 6th grade to think about the 5 things I enjoyed most back then and evaluate if I still lie them today.
12. The prompt I chose for today is to write a post using exactly 13 lines.
13. See if you can figure out the original order.

Click here for more Writer's Workshop.  In your comments to my post just order the letters to see if you can guess how my paragraph was supposed to turn out,

Team Saturdazzle: The One Where I Finally Say Something About President Trump

 Wow.  This year is flying by fast.  It's already the last Saturdazzle of the month for the 2nd time this year.  

If you are a regular reader of this blog, or if you are joining in from my Facebook page, you may be confused by the title of this post.  "What?!? Roller talks about Trump all the stinking time.  He even had his Dad teach him how to play bridge so he could say No Trump. more often.", you might be thinking to yourself. (You may even be thinking parenthetically, that you're not sure if thoughts  should be in quotation marks).

The truth is that  in this blog, I have not written a thing about President Trump all year.  That isn't to say I haven't had thoughts,  I've had thoughts! Here's two I'd like to share today:

1. President Trump is My President.

I don't know where it started, or where I first heard it, but it seems very likely regardless  of who  is the  current president, or who's the governor of your state that you may hear or read someone mention, "He's not my president."  or  "She's not my governor".  This bothers me in many ways, but mainly linguistically.  

If I live in Elgin, Illinois,  (#Ido), the mayor of that city is  my mayor.  It doesn't matter, if I don't know his or her name (#IdoIjustlookeditup) or if I voted for him, (#Idid), that's my mayor.

On January 20th 2025 10:00 A.M. central time Joe Biden was my President.  No, I didn't vote for him.  No, I don't agree with him on a number of issues, but I'm a U.S. citizen as he was in the last hour of his presidency  for that hour he was  still my president.  

In the same way by noon central time  Donald Trump had again become my president.  I trust Trump about as far as I can throw Mount Rushmore.  I didn't vote for him in the 2016, 2020, or 2024 primaries or general elections but yet he's my president.

Saying someone is not your president, when they are is not to me an act of defiance, nor a nod of a disapproval.  It's more like saying I'm only part of my country when I agree with their choices.  I understand  the voting process the way  we elect our public officials but then those  elected officials  work for all of us and represent all of us.  This is why they are our elected officials.  While it's an essential part of our democracy to speak up when we disagree with our elected officials, disagreeing with them in no way makes them no longer our leaders.  It's because they are our leaders that we can  ask them to change. I live in the state of Illinois and a Republican presidential candidate has not won the state of Illinois since 1988.  Does that mean that President George W. Bush or President Trump aren't the President in Illinois.  No! Nor does it matter that I haven't voted for a winning presidential candidate in over 2 decades.  The President of the U.S. is my president and this brings me to my second point.

2. President Trump is not my savior, but he's not the devil either.  

As stated before, I have not posted on this blog  about President Trump all year.  This can not be said when it comes to  posting  my Facebook account.  Several times  I have written there about our current president.  A few weeks nto his most recent term, I asked my FB friends to mention one thing Trump had done in those two weeks which they liked and one thing he had done which they didn't like.  

I have 441 FB friends. Two gave me one thing they liked and one thing they didn't like.  My submission made for a total of three.  3 out of 442? Wow!

 I'm not exactly sure why it was this low.  Many people on FB say good things about him and many people say bad things about him.  How come so few can  mention both the good and the bad?  

We are all created in God's image, so we all have good inside of us.  We also are all sinners who have  fallen short of the glory of God so we all have bad coming out of us. Finding both good and bad should not be that hard of an exercise.  And if it is, then since we are called to pray for our elected officials maybe we should spend more time trying to think about good and bad things that they are doing to aid in our prayers.  

One of my FB friends asked why I hadn't done such an exercise when Biden was President.  I had  in fact done a very similar exercise when Biden was president. But I'll go ahead and conclude  this segment by  saying one good and one bad thing about both President Trump and former President Biden.

Donald Trump 

Good:  When he was on  The Apprentice, I liked how in the board room segments he would make  the contestants take responsibility for their actions.  There was one episode where a project manager was talking about how great he ran his team for that week. Trump turned it around on him and asked, Did you win?  Which of course he had not, which is why he was in the board room to begin with.

Bad: As a candidate and as president I have never seen him follow his own advice and admit a mistake.  This is shown most in his inability to concede the 2020 Presidential Election.

Joe Biden

Good:  Biden thought about the good of the country and the good of his party before choosing to drop out of the 2024 election.  

Bad: I didn't mind that he pardoned his son Hunter, I just don't like that he did it after saying that he wasn't going to.

Note: The things I mentioned about Trump are not the same things I mentioned on my Facebook Page.  Here is what I said on Facebook: 

 A good thing I think Trump has done is pardon the 23 people who were being prosecuted under the F.A.C.E act Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances. A bad thing Trump had done is the pardoning or commuting the sentence of all 1500 people convicted of crimes during the events at the Capitol on Jan 6, 2021

Coming Soon: Levi A to Z

Sometimes I like to use Team Saturdazzle as  a place to start the conversation about topics I'm preparing future posts about.  

A to Z challenge Update.  I believe I have a topic for the upcoming challenge.  I am in the process of preparing posts and making a theme reveal post as well.

Speaking of Alpha and Omegas: I have some future posts featuring a pair of  Levi's.  This pair is well worn on the pages of my blog.  The first is Allen Levi, a member of my Big 5 list of favorite musicians.  Actually I have 2 upcoming posts featuring Allen.  The second Levi, is Chuck Bartowski, Flynn Rider, Captain Marvel and Kurt Warner rolled into one, Zachary Levi.  I watched The Unbreakable Boy earlier today and hope to post a short review before the next Saturdazzle.  

 There are 24 hours in a day but  only 24 minutes left of  this particular Saturdazzle.  So on that mathematical non sequitur, I bid you farewell.  

Not Sure How This is A Writer's Workshop But I'm In.

Here are the prompts for this week’s Writer’s Workshop: 

1. Write a post based on the word surprise. 
2. Write a post in exactly 8 sentences. 
3. Tell us about your favorite restaurant when you were a kid. 
4. Share links to 5-10 of your favorite non-political YouTube videos from this past week. 
5. Tell us about a time you had a really elaborate project in elementary school. 
6. Tell us how you named one (or more) of your pets.

I love writing too much, too look for a loophole when it comes to these Workshop prompts.  But if I were, prompt 4  would be right up my alley.  A writing prompt that just has me sharing links?  Bring it on.  

Some of the videos are not from  the past week but were in my you tube feed in the past week.  I had already put a few You Tube links in previous posts which is why I have the minimum amount.  Yet another loophole.  

Bob Bennett Weekly Live 1/12/2025

 

Ving Rhames Give His Golden Globe to Jack Lemon

MLB Remembers Legendary Broadcaster Bob Uecker

1987 Dal@Phi Buddy Ryan Runs Up The Score

The Newsroom: That's How I Got To Memphis

That was almost too easy,  So I decide to do # 6 as well. It's how I renamed a pet.

When I was in highschool my family bought a cat.  They named him Tiger.  I say they because If I had been conulted in the naming process such a predictable name would not have escaped my lips.  One of my best friends already had a cat named tiger, and of course every other striped cat was named tiger.  

Not only did I refuse to call the cat Tiger. I unilaterally decided to change his name.  So in my family of 7 people, 6 people called  our new cat Tiger and I called the cat Larry. I was very aggressive  and vocal with my naming preference. While no one switched over immediately I wore people down. My Dad would  accidentally call  him Larry, sweat under his breath and switch back to Tiger. I was always a pretty obnoxious teenager but this was me ar my most obnoxious.

in the early 80s VCRs were coming on the scene and our family got one before a lot of my other friends had them. So that summer I had a big party and we watched a number of movies. In between and even during movies people hung out I’m different places in the house and on the front porch and people came and went freely.

At some point during the party Larry/Tiger went freely but didnt come back. He probably got tired of  all the name calling. We never did see Larry or Tiger again. 

A to Z 2024:Reflections - The Music

I am doing my A to Z Reflections in 2 parts this year.  The traditional reflection with the index and the pontification will follow.  This year I paid homage to John "1 Hand Typing" Holton  by having a "song of the day" for each letter of the alphabet at the end of my post. I would post a You Tube video of the song in question and then daily add that song to my Spotify A to Z playlist.   

I am adding a bonus song of the day for the reflection called appropriately enough, Reflecting on My Reflection by Allen Levi.

The Leap of Dave A to Z Playlist ia now ready with all 26 songs from the challenge.  

I will be back later this week with my traditional reflection.  Foe more reflections click here.

Z is for the Zenith of the American Revolution

 

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 an A to Z keepsake playlist on Spotify. Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together.

April 30th 2024 is the 235th anniversary of George Washington being inaugurated the first President of the United States.

George Washington

By Gilbert Stuart, Public Domain, Link

On April 30th 1789 George Washington was innaugurated the first President of the United States of America in Federal Hall in New York City.  Here is the transcript of his address ...

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: 

 Among the vicissitudes incident to life no event could have filled me with greater anxieties than that of which the notification was transmitted by your order, and received on the 14th day of the present month. On the one hand, I was summoned by my Country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest predilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with an immutable decision, as the asylum of my declining years--a retreat which was rendered every day more necessary as well as more dear to me by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent interruptions in my health to the gradual waste committed on it by time. On the other hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my country called me, being sufficient to awaken in the wisest and most experienced of her citizens a distrust-ful scrutiny into his qualifications, could not but overwhelm with despondence one who (inheriting inferior endowments from nature and unpracticed in the duties of civil administration) ought to be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies. In this conflict of emotions all I dare aver is that it has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just appreciation of every circumstance by which it might be affected. All I dare hope is that if, in executing this task, I have been too much swayed by a grateful remembrance of former instances, or by an affectionate sensibility to this transcendent proof of the confidence of my fellow-citizens, and have thence too little consulted my incapacity as well as disinclination for the weighty and untried cares before me, my error will be palliated by the motives which mislead me, and its consequences be judged by my country with some share of the partiality in which they originated. 

Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow- citizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency; and in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their united government the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities from which the event has resulted can not be compared with the means by which most governments have been established without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage. These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there are none under the influence of which the proceedings of a new and free government can more auspiciously commence. 

By the article establishing the executive department it is made the duty of the President "to recommend to your consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." The circumstances under which I now meet you will acquit me from entering into that subject further than to refer to the great constitutional charter under which you are assembled, and which, in defining your powers, designates the objects to which your attention is to be given. It will be more consistent with those circumstances, and far more congenial with the feelings which actuate me, to substitute, in place of a recommendation of particular measures, the tribute that is due to the talents, the rectitude, and the patriotism which adorn the characters selected to devise and adopt them. In these honorable qualifications I behold the surest pledges that as on one side no local prejudices or attachments, no separate views nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests, so, on another, that the foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality, and the preeminence of free government be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its citizens and command the respect of the world. I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my country can inspire, since there is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained; and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people. 

Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care, it will remain with your judgment to decide how far an exercise of the occasional power delegated by the fifth article of the Constitution is rendered expedient at the present juncture by the nature of objections which have been urged against the system, or by the degree of inquietude which has given birth to them. Instead of undertaking particular recommendations on this subject, in which I could be guided by no lights derived from official opportunities, I shall again give way to my entire confidence in your discernment and pursuit of the public good; for I assure myself that whilst you carefully avoid every alteration which might endanger the benefits of an united and effective government, or which ought to await the future lessons of experience, a reverence for the characteristic rights of freemen and a regard for the public harmony will sufficiently influence your deliberations on the question how far the former can be impregnably fortified or the latter be safely and advantageously promoted. 

To the preceding observations I have one to add, which will be most properly addressed to the House of Representatives. It concerns myself, and will therefore be as brief as possible. When I was first honored with a call into the service of my country, then on the eve of an arduous struggle for its liberties, the light in which I contemplated my duty required that I should renounce every pecuniary compensation. From this resolution I have in no instance departed; and being still under the impressions which produced it, I must decline as inapplicable to myself any share in the personal emoluments which may be indispensably included in a permanent provision for the executive department, and must accordingly pray that the pecuniary estimates for the station in which I am placed may during my continuance in it be limited to such actual expenditures as the public good may be thought to require. 

Having thus imparted to you my sentiments as they have been awakened by the occasion which brings us together, I shall take my present leave; but not without resorting once more to the benign Parent of the Human Race in humble supplication that, since He has been pleased to favor the American people with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tranquillity, and dispositions for deciding with unparalleled unanimity on a form of government for the security of their union and the advancement of their happiness, so His divine blessing may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and the wise measures on which the success of this Government must depend.

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The song of the day is Zion by Aaron Shust

The A to Z Challenge is complete!  The Spotify Leap of Dave A to Z playlist is complete.  They both have been a lot of fun.  I will be back soon with my A to Z reflections.

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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: Y is for watching Viral Videos on Youtube

 

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 an A to Z keepsake playlist on Spotify. Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together.

April 29th is Viral Video Day

• The first viral video on You Tube was an unauthorized bootleg of the SNL digital short Lazy Sunday.  It had over 5,000,000 views between December 2005 and February of 2006 when You Tube took it down.  SNL has since put the video up on it's own You Tube Channel.
• Like many subsequent viral videos Lazy Sunday spawned some response videos.  This one being a shot by shot remake
• In 2008 the viral video Charlie bit my finger - Again blew up  on You Tube.  To date it has 886,000,000 views.  My son was 7 when this came out and I must say he was very good at shutting people down before they ever got to teasing him about that.
• By 2013 most everyone knew what a viral video was.  April 29th 2013 was the first known occurrence of Viral Video Day.
• Since then, viral videos have not gone away.  Video's like this one my daughter calls Chewbacca Mom. It had 13,00,000 views in the past 7 years.  

I know there are just two days left in the A to Z challenge.  I say take a moment and watch some You Tube videos.  You may just help one go viral!

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The song of the day is You Make It Easy To Fall In Love by Three Crosses

25 songs are on the Leap of Dave A to Z 2024 playlist.  Just one more letter, one more holiday and one more song!

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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: X marks the spot that pampered dogs have in our heart

  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 an A to Z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together.

April 27th is National Little Pampered Dog Day

That's it.  That's all I've got it's 11:54 on April 27th and I've gotten all my posts this month in on time.  What I lack in content, I make up for in punctuality.

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The song of the day is Xandadu by Olivia Newton John & ELO from the 1980 film, Xanadu.  I saw it when it came out.  I didn't like it then, it was more of a xanadon't.  But this clip makes me consider giving it a second viewing.

X is 10 in Roman Numerals but today X makes 24 songs on the Spotify 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: W is for Warmly Embrace Austalians

  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 an A to Z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together.

April 26th is Hug an Australian Day.

Australia is the lone continent that is also one entire country.  Australia Day is celebrated each year on January  26th marking the 1788 landing of the first fleet into Sydney Harbor and the subsequent raising of the Union Flag  of Great Britain.  3 months to the day later you can celebrate Australians all over again by hugging them.  

Originated in 1996 in Melbourne, Hug an Australian day promotes warmth and wellness.

Wallaby,Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage, Buddhist Monastery, Brisbane, Australia www.dhammagiri.org.au 

 Not everyone can visit Australia.  However everyone can promote good will to Australians everywhere by wishing all Auissies you meet well wishes and perhaps even a warm embrace.  Here's a cute video of someone hugging a koala bear.

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Today's Song of the Day is We are Here by Randy Stonehill & Buck Storm

23 songs for 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: V is for Various Holidays

  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 an A to Z keepsake playlist on Spotify.  Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together.

April 25th: Multiple Holidays Abound

Everyday of the year there are a plethora of holidays,  My job for the challenge was to scour through those holidays and find one that somehow relates to the letter of the day.  Since todays letter is V, I thought I might give you a variety pack of holidays, events, and occurrences to celebrate today.

Holidays

National Hairstylist Appreciation Day Held on the 25th April since 2012.  Prior to that it was celebrated on April 30th, but alas, that wasn't it's "permanent" day.

International  Delegates Day - United Nations The current U.S. Ambassador for the U.N. is  Linda Thomas Greenfield.  The last former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. that I voted for for President of the U.S. was Nikki Haley.

World Penguin Day Statred in 1972, April 25th coincides with he day that Adelie penguins begin their northern migration.  It is a little confusing because I thought it was March of the Penguins, not April.  

3 Adelie PenguinsCC BY-SA 2.0, Link

License Plate Day On April 25th 1901 the state of New York made the first law requiring automobiles to have license plates.  Speaking of license plates click here to see the I holiday Indicted Illinois Governors Day.

Born On April 25th

Al Pacino - American Actor 1940- present

Edward R Murrow - Radio and Television Journalist - 1908-1965

Edward R Murrow Public Domain,

David Strathairn As Murrow in Good Night and Good Luck

Guglielmo Marconi - Inventor and Physicist 1874-1937

Died on April 25th

Ginger Rogers - American Actress and Dancer.  Died in 1995 at the age of 83

Rogers and Fred Astaire

By RKO Radio Pictures Public Domain, Link

John Havlicek - Boston Celtics Basketball Star died at the age of 79 in 2014

Bea Arthur- Actress best know for her roles on t.v. shows Maude, and Golden Girls-  died at the age of 86 in 2009 

Happened on April 25th ...

2021 - Chloe Zhao win's Best Director Oscar for the film Nomadland.  Frances McDormand won the Academy award for Actress in a Leading Role for Nomadland, which also won the Oscar for Best Picture.  

1990- Hubble Space Telescope Sent Into Orbit.This hour video show the Space Shuttle bringing the telecope into space and then releasing it into orbit.  

 

This poster shows many of the great pictures taken with the telescope.

By Unknown author Public Domain, Link

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Song of the Day The View From Here Bob Bennet  

There is an entire house concert from 2019 on this video, if I have set this up correctly, the intro to the song should start as you open the video.  There are 22 songs on the A to Z Spotify playlist now. Just like today it houses a lot of variety.

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 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!

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!