I’m off to Houston today, and just in time, for the weather in Chicago is dreadful (it is cold and hailing today). I’m returning Monday, so posting may be lighter than usual.
On this day in history, the Venus de Milo was discovered in 1820, buried on the island of Milos. On April 8, 1911, the Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovered the phenomenon of superconductivity, for which he got the Nobel Prize two years later. On this day in 1924, Kemal Atatürk, one of my heroes, abolished sharia courts in Turkey.
Notable births on April 8 include Mary Pickford (1892), Yip Harburg (1896; he wrote every song in The Wizard of Oz, including You Know What), Sonja Henie (1912), and Barbara Kingsolver (1955). Those who died on this day include Vaslav Nijinsky (1950), Pablo Picasso (1973), Laura Nyro (1997, only 49), Annette Funicello (2013; the first love interest of many boys of my generation), and Margaret Thatcher (2013). It is also the Official Birthday of the Buddha.
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili has lost her bodyguard:
Hili: Wait! Haven’t you lost something?
Cyrus: What have I lost?
Hili: Me.
Hili: Zaczekaj, coś zgubiłeś!
Cyrus: Co zgubiłem?
Hili: Mnie.
And in Winnipeg, Gus continues to demolish his box. Soon he’ll no longer be able to enter it:
Lagniappe, a new episode of Simon’s Cat, called “Fast Track”. I’ve sorely neglected this nice series; and this time Simon’s cat does something quite naughty (h/t: jsp):
Un-notable births include me 🙁
It won’t be long before there are blossoms on them there trees! 🙂
Happy Birthday, Dominic! 😀
Birthday Cheers, Dominic!
Happy Birthday, Dominic!
ta!
Oops. It says August 8 in third paragraph.
Is everyone holding their breath ready for the new papal encyclical? … no…!
Turkey is sorely in need of a new Kemel Ataturk, Erdogan is a disaster, not just for Turkey ,but all the Middle East.
I certainly is counter to the intuition that things are getting better or can get better. Maybe things just oscillate between horrible and less horrible.
At least it shows that a culture who needs a savior like Ataturk can revert. That would be like the presidency of Obama followed by…(I can’t say it).
And in the US – the whole abortion back-peddle – so scary.
Siddhartha’s birthday (Vesak) is generally celebrated on the full moon of May (or first full moon, if there are two). Conveniently, it’s also the celebration of his enlightenment and an observance of his death.
Simon’s cat : “Victory is mine!”