04/04 - National Fun Day

beef chow fun

~~     beef chow fun; Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) - stu_spivack
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode 

National Fun Day is a bewildering idea.  Is there a fee?  Some little kids used to "have fun" now and then, time and circumstances permitting, at least the lucky ones did, but "fun" all too soon became a commodity.  This country has long been awash in advertising for "fun".  Places, events, activities, pastimes, toys or equipment, and all with a price tag and sometimes a nagging bit of worry that you weren't getting your money's worth, that ir really wasn't so much fun at that.  And, of course, it's also time restricted, with opportunities for fun doled out sparingly, a bit here and there, now and then.  Excess fun is frivolous, you should be working, making money or improving yourself or your looks or health. It hit me that perhaps I had missed the memo, and we were all now both allowed and mandated to go "have fun" on this specific day and this day only, but I found no evidence of that.

At last it hit me that I had overlooked the obvious - Chow Fun.  Sure, the government and oligarchs (ok, so it's redundant, so shoot me) want us to hate the Chinese in order to maintain and perfect a unipolar US global hegemony and economic supremacy, but that's no reason to eschew their chow food.  And a personal favorite of mine and many others is chow fun.  In particular, for me at any rate, that would be broccoli-beef chow fun or just beef chow fun.  It's fun and fun and delicious, nutritious and good for what ails you.  And, for most of us, you still have to buy it, so it even meets the paradigmatic "Fun = something you spend money on" test.  Sorry, but this is making me hungry, so I'll just stop and run out for some fun.

It's also 404 Day but I decided not to go there because I couldn't decide which politician or CEO's photo to use for the title graphic.  Speaking of which, the exact same reasoning applies to National Tell a Lie Day

AND, lastly, it's Sweet Potato Day; presumably, that ol' sweet pertata, the Ocarina:

Peru 1999

[Peru 1999 by Dietmut Teijgeman-Hansen, (CC BY-NC-ND}  2.0)
   https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/legalcode

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On this day in history:

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1609 – Moriscos were expelled from the Kingdom of Valencia.

1796 – Georges Cuvier delivered the first paleontological lecture.

1814 – Napoleon abdicated for the first time 

1818 – The United States Congress adopted the flag of the United States

1887 – Argonia, Kansas elected Susanna M. Salter as the first female mayor in the US 

1905 – An earthquake hit the Kangra Valley in India killing 20,000, and destroying most buildings in Kangra, McLeod Ganj and Dharamshala.

1925 – The Schutzstaffel (SS) was founded under Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party in Germany.

1944 – The first bombardment of oil refineries in Bucharest by Anglo-American forces killed 3000 civilians.

1945 – Red Army troops liberated Hungary from German occupation

1949 – Twelve nations signed the North Atlantic Treaty creating NATO

1958 – The CND peace symbol was displayed in public for the first time in London.

1960 – France agreed to grant independence to the Mali Federation

1967 – Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" speech

1968 – Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

1969 – Dr. Denton Cooley implanted the first temporary artificial heart.

1975 – Microsoft was founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

1979 – Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan was executed.

1981 – The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force attacked H-3 Airbase and destroyed about 50 Iraqi aircraft.

1983 – Space Shuttle Challenger made its maiden voyage into space.

1984 – President Ronald Reagan called for an international ban on chemical weapons, heh

1996 – Comet Hyakutake was imaged by the USA Asteroid Orbiter Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous.

2002 – The MPLA government of Angola and UNITA rebels signed a peace treaty ending the Angolan Civil War.

2009 – France announced the return to full participation in NATO of its military forces 

2020 – China held a national day of mourning for martyrs who died in the fight against the novel coronavirus disease outbreak.

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Some people who were born on this day:

Man is not made better by being degraded

~ Dorothea Dix

1572 – William Strachey, author
1640 – Gaspar Sanz, guitarist, composer, and priest
1646 – Antoine Galland, orientalist and archaeologist
1648 – Grinling Gibbons, sculptor
1688 – Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, astronomer and cartographer
1802 – Dorothea Dix, nurse and activist
1818 – Thomas Mayne Reid, author and poet
1821 – Linus Yale, Jr., engineer and businessman
1826 – Zénobe Gramme, engineer, invented the Gramme machine 
1835 – John Hughlings Jackson, physician and neurologist
1842 – Édouard Lucas, mathematician and theorist
1868 – Philippa Fawcett, mathematician and educator
1869 – Mary Colter, architect, designed the Desert View Watchtower 
1906 – John Cameron Swayze, journalist
1913 – Muddy Waters, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1914 – David W. Goodall, ecologist and botanist
1915 – Louis Archambault, sculptor
1921 – Orunamamu, author and educator
1928 – Maya Angelou, memoirist and poet
1928 – Monty Norman, singer, songwriter, and producer
1939 – Hugh Masekela, trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer
1940 – Sharon Sheeley, singer and songwriter
1942 – Kitty Kelley, journalist and biographer
1944 – Mary Kenny, journalist, author, and playwright
1944 – Bob McDill, country music songwriter
1946 – Dave Hill, guitarist
1948 – Berry Oakley, bass player
1948 – Pick Withers, drummer
1949 – Junior Braithwaite, singer
1949 – Shing-Tung Yau, mathematician and academic
1952 – Gary Moore, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1953 – Chen Yi, violinist and composer
1957 – Graeme Kelling, guitarist
1957 – Nobuyoshi Kuwano, singer and trumpet player
1958 – Peter Baltes, bass player
1958 – Cazuza, singer and songwriter
1962 – Craig Adams, bass player and songwriter
1965 – Vinny Burns, guitarist and producer
1966 – Mike Starr, bass player
1970 – Josh Todd, singer, songwriter, and actor
1972 – Jill Scott, singer, songwriter, and actress
1973 – Kelly Price, singer, and songwriter
1975 – Miranda Lee Richards, singer and songwriter
1979 – Andy McKee, guitarist
1980 – Johnny Borrell, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1986 – Eunhyuk, singer, songwriter, and dancer

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Some people who died on this day:

Law grinds the poor, and rich men rule the law.

~~ Oliver Goldsmith

1609 – Carolus Clusius, botanist, mycologist, and academic
1617 – John Napier, mathematician, physicist, and astronomer
1774 – Oliver Goldsmith, novelist, playwright and poet
1807 – Jérôme Lalande, astronomer and academic
1870 – Heinrich Gustav Magnus, chemist and physicist
1875 – Karl Mauch, geographer and explorer
1883 – Peter Cooper, businessman and philanthropist, founded Cooper Union 
1890 – Edmond Hébert, geologist and academic
1912 – Isaac K. Funk, minister, lexicographer, and publisher, co-founded Funk & Wagnalls 
1919 – William Crookes, chemist and physicist
1923 – John Venn, mathematician and philosopher, created the Venn diagram
1929 – Karl Benz, engineer and businessman 
1932 – Wilhelm Ostwald, chemist and academic
1961 – Simion Stoilow, mathematician and academic
1967 – Al Lewis, songwriter
1968 – Martin Luther King Jr., minister and activist
1976 – Harry Nyquist, engineer and theorist
1980 – Red Sovine, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1984 – Oleg Antonov, engineer and businessman, founded Antonov 
1985 – Kate Roberts, author and activist
1987 – Sachchidananda Vatsyayan, journalist, poet, and author
1992 – Arthur Russell, singer, songwriter, and cellist
1993 – Alfred Mosher Butts, game designer, invented Scrabble 
2001 – Liisi Oterma, astronomer
2001 – Ed Roth, illustrator and engineer
2007 – Karen Spärck Jones, computer scientist and academic
2011 – Scott Columbus, drummer
2013 – Roger Ebert, journalist, critic, and screenwriter
2014 – Wayne Henderson, trombonist and producer

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Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

404 Day  
International Carrot Day
National Fun Day
Sweet Potato Day
Vitamin C Day
National Tell A Lie Day
Peace Day (Angola)
One of the possible days for Qingming Festival.

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MUSIC goes here; With apologies Wink

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Gaspar Sanz

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Muddy Waters

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Hugh Masakela

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Dave Hill

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Berry Oakley

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Pitch Withers

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Junior Braithwaite

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Gary Moore

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Cazuza

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Arthur Russell

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Al Lewis

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Wayne Henderson

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Please Note: Please do not post any Covid-19 related commentary in the comments. Thank you. There is a separate OT, aka The Dose, where all such material is welcome. Thanks again.

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Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?

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Comments

enhydra lutris's picture

@lotlizard

no males of color voiced disapproval of Will's actions, except that many somewhat loudly already have. It doesn't matter, it one has a cudgel one is inclined to actively seek opportunities to use it. And where but twitter is one guaranteed to find something or someone to take umbrage at, whether fully merited or completely manufactured. That's why I don't use, read or follow twitter.

be well and have a good one

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7 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris

with the reality that the MSM has for the most part lost its credibility. Twitter is one source of information that I rely upon. It is true that it is littered with garbage but one has the opportunity to be selective as to what you observe. Personally I do not have a twitter account which is not a big deal as it only prohibits me from commenting which is actually a waste of time and effort.

Due to the selective blacklisting of various YouTube and twitter accounts that leaned left and that the MSM limits the content of those that do not adhere to their agenda one has to make choices as to where you can obtain information.

Where would we be if there was no alternative to the blatant propaganda being spread like the latest war crime allegations against Russia?

A couple of examples of what I mean.

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11 users have voted.

Nice music to get the day going and lots of ideas for the rest of the week meal planning! Cooking is fun for me any day and Chinese cooking some of my “funnest”. Have a sweet potato that will find a fun recipe to move it along. Bike ride and yoga are two fun activities I have planned for the day so you have started me in the right direction. Have a fun filled day yourself!

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7 users have voted.

Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.

This ain't no dress rehearsal!

enhydra lutris's picture

@jakkalbessie

for the good wishes as well. Chinese cooking is indeed great fun and it is my week to cook, so it is on the agenda at some point. Today, however, involves Italian pasta instead of fun, though the dish will be fun.

be well and have a good one

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5 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

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8 users have voted.
lotlizard's picture

[video:https://youtu.be/CHiUzv11t1I]

 
Oberlin is the same college that is now on the hook for $31.5 million for having defamed a bakery and the family that owns it as racist:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oberlin-college-and-gibsons-bakery-a-protes...

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5 users have voted.
enhydra lutris's picture

@lotlizard

real world kid. We are far from an existence where 80K makes the world revolve around one. I grew up in a very, very different world, so I am unduly jaded in my expectations, basically having none or else expect the worst but that aside:

be well and have a good one

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5 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

dystopian's picture

Hi EL, Hope all is well!

Looked for 404 day, couldn't find it. Was 'tell a lie day' conceived by politicians?

Gary Moore was great. Still got the blues.

Curvier was brilliant... he came up with phyla! One of the first to really prove extinction, being a founder of paleontology that likely didn't take too long... a pioneering fish and mollusc man.

He was amazingly wrong on a few counts like declaring there no more undiscovered animals... (in the early 1800's FFS!), and evolution. He has a boatload of specific epitaphs to his credit.

I have seen a couple dozen maybe Curvier's Beaked-Whales in socal. They are small, like a big dolphin, and distinctly brownish tan in good light, lots of white scars. Always in deep water further offshore, like 25 miles and more, at minimum. Water 3500' deep or so minimum, and far more likely in mile (or two) deep water. They are often very quick at the surface and it is rare to get good close looks. Unlike say inshore shallow water whales, that will be back up in 5-10 minutes when they sound, when these dive, time to go look for something else. You are not ever going to see it again. Their dives are 45 minutes and it will come up a mile or two away, like an Elephant Seal. Once we found a family group with a few and a small young, all logging (side by side hyperventilating to gas blood up with ox for the dive) at the surface providing great views.

Be well all!

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4 users have voted.

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

a report from a psychiatrist who examined my client whom I suspected was incompetent.
The shrink agreed.
The thing is, whatever his problem is, it is never gonna be fixed. It might/likely is drug related, and both his parents were druggies at his conception.
He and I have talked in the jail twice, appeared in court twice...he knows me as his attorney, but has no idea who I am, or what I am doing for him. I, on the other hand, will never, ever forget him.
He will go to a rehab center, escape it, hit the streets, as he has always done.
Anybody unfortunate enough to have druggie parents at their conception, and throughout their childhood,needs help from somewhere, somebody, and for the system to cut them all the slack the system allows.
I got him out of jail, into a rehab, but nothing I can do will ever keep him well, safe, and keep him from hurting himself or others.
Sorry for the downer, but we MUST get synthetic pot off the sales rack, allow actual pot to be sold without any penalty, other than a tax. I think LSD is making a comeback. The country sucks, so why not get high and out there, I guess.
Take good care, el.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

snoopydawg's picture

@on the cusp

The government deliberately poisoned people during prohibition. Mostly poor people of course!

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3 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg is pretty damn awful. Wonder how many mischievous little kids died when sneaking a drink from Dad's stash.
Government don't give a shit, then or now.

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2 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981