It’s Thursday, March 24, and that means it’s Holi, the India festival of Spring colors. If you go to Google India today, you’ll see an animation of what happens: people throw colored powder at each other, smear each other with wet colors, or douse each other with water balloons containing dyed liquids. It’s best not to wear anything but old clothes outside today. Fortunately, though I’m going out—to visit Mr. Das’s sweet factory—Holi is not much celebrated in southern India.
On this day in history Sarah Josepha Hale published the song, “Mary Had a Little Lamb” (1830), the Brooklyn Bridge was opened (1883), and, in 1935, “The first night game in Major League Baseball history is played in Cincinnati, Ohio, with the Cincinnati Reds beating the Philadelphia Phillies 2–1 at Crosley Field.” In 1943, Josef Mengele began his tenure as the Nightmare Doctor of Auschwitz, and, in 2001, a 16-year-old Sherpa, Temba Tsheri became the the youngest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest. However, in 2010 he was surpassed, as the 13-year-old Jordan Romero reached the summit. He later climbed the “seven summits”, the highest mountains on each continent, at the age of only 15!
Queen Victoria was born on this day in 1819, Tommy Chong in 1938, Bob Dylan in 1941 (making him 75 today), Patti LaBelle in 1944, and Kristin Scott Thomas in 1960. Those who died on this day include Sonny Boy Williamson (1965) and Duke Ellington (1974). Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili has an oblique comment about events not just in Belgium, but throughout the world.
Hili: The world can’t be left alone even for a moment.A: That’s true, it’s utterly irresponsible.
Hili: Świata nie należy spuszczać z oka.
Ja: To prawda, jest kompletnie nieobliczalny.
Of course Easter is coming up, too, and Leon is requesting special noms. But seriously, boar pâté for a cat?
Leon: Will we have a boar pâté for for Easter?
Very nice pictures.
It is a good thing I have two chairs in this room because the cat always takes the one I am about to use. I’m sure Hili and Leon would approve this message.
Leon looks fierce and determined. I hope he enjoys his special noms.
According to the sources I’ve seen, Dylan’s birthday is May 24th.
Woke up this morning to read The Hili Dialogue and, upon reading that Bob Dylan was born on this day, thought I’d slept for two months. Fortunately my wife was able to assure me I had not. . .
The first night game in major league baseball was played in May 1935. March is spring training. It was in Cincinnati against the Phillies. FDR flipped on a switch in the White House when the lights went on to commemorate the significant event.
March is too early to attempt to summit Mt. Everest, too. I believe all these events occurred on May 24th.
PCC’s always been ahead of his time… 😉
And the anniversary of the birthday, today, of this godless mama in y1826, who was a quite close colleague of yet another (Elizabeth Cady [Stanton]) such mother: Ms Matilda Joslyn [Gage] of the First Wave and “Woman, Church and State,” y1893, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_Joslyn_Gage … …
… … with its excerpt there of “In 1993, scientific historian Margaret W. Rossiter coined the term ‘Matilda effect’, after Matilda Joslyn Gage, to identify the social situation where woman scientists inaccurately receive less credit for their scientific work than an objective examination of their actual effort would reveal.”
Blue
Google.ca shows the Festival of Holi animation. I wonder what metrics they use to decide where to show the Google animations?
Cheers,
M.
Regarding the ‘On this day in history’ part .. knowing that Jerry is a soccer fan, maybe it’s worth mentioning that, sadly, today, Johan Cruyff passed away; by many considered the best soccer player ever.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2016/03/24/a-look-at-how-dutch-soccer-great-cruyff-changed-football/82210232/
One of the most deeply disturbing and unpleasant books I have ever read was by a Hungary an pathologist who worked (involuntarily) as Mengele’s lab tech/anatomist in Auschwitz. It really is horrifying – up there with reading the design and construction tweaks in the prototype gas chambers at Dachau KZ. Really a horrible, horrible read. Unfortunately, my copy disintegrated due to being a cheap paperback, so I don’t have it’s details, but in the event that anyone wants weeks of shuddering insomnia and a deep worry about just how horrible one human can be (intelligently, and sanely ; just very nastily) to others … well, I’m sure escapees from ISIS will add to this depressing genre.
If you find a copy in a 2nd hand bookshop, grab it. It’s not “high literature” but it’s important, and is very unlikely to get many reprints. Horrible book, but important.
Despite having “clean hands” (for things he did under force majeure , I’m not surprised that the author suicided after completing his memoir.