~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
April 26

A man will be imprisoned in a room with a door that’s unlocked and opens inwards; as long as it does not occur to him to pull rather than push.Ludwig Wittgenstein

★~Today is hug and Australian  Day:

G’day mate! Happy Hug an Australian Day to you! Today we pay tribute to the Aussies in our lives that we know and love. Odd’s Aussie mascot is Antoinette, who loves gluten-free sweets; staying up late; a cuppa of not just good coffee, but really good coffee; good friends; good company; good food; good shoes with high heels; and going to bed late and getting up later. Please don’t squeeze Aussie Antoinette before you ask – it’s only polite – but I‘m sure she won’t mind. After all, it is Hug an Aussie Day!

Today is also pretzel day:

Not sure what to munch on today? Well, let me give you a hint: Thick or thin? Straight or twisted? Crisp and crunchy, or soft? Salted, unsalted, mustard flavored, perhaps? Yep, it’s Pretzel Day. Pretzels are believed to be the world’s oldest snack, dating back to 610AD in Southern France. Monks baked thin strips of dough into the shape of a child’s arms folded in prayer. Add a little salt, and Voila!…the pretzel industry was born.Happy Dyngus Day, also spelled Dingus Day to our Polish friends:

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1819 – The first Odd Fellows lodge in the U.S. was established in Baltimore, Maryland. The official name of the organization is the Independent Order (of) Odd Fellows or IOOF. The main focus of the fraternal order is “to relieve the brethren, bury the dead, and care for the widow and the orphan.” This focus has been broadened through the years to include the principles of friendship, love and truth. The Odd Fellows maintain homes for the aged, the poor, widows and orphans and provide members with financial aid in sickness or death. Membership of the order is more than 1.5 million.

♥~1937 – The publisher of LIFE magazine just about passed out when he looked at his just-off-the-press publication and noticed that someone had forgotten to put the word “LIFE” in the upper left-hand corner! It was the only time that LIFE was nameless. Since hundreds of thousands of copies were already printed, the magazine hit the streets with no name on the cover! The reason? A picture of a rooster would have had an obscured comb if the logotype had been used in the upper left-hand corner as usual.

♥~1941 – The first organ was played at a baseball stadium (Cubs)– in Chicago, IL.

♥~1954 – Grace Kelly, “Hollywood’s brightest and busiest star,” was seen on the cover of LIFE magazine. In a couple of years, the actress would leave the U.S. to become Princess Grace of Monaco.

♥~1975 – On top of the Billboard popular music chart was B.J. Thomas, with the longest title ever for a number one song. (Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song was number one for one week, though it took that long just to say the title.

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1785 – John James Audubon ornithologist, artist: the original Birdman; died Jan 27, 1851

♥~ 1889–Ludwig Wittgenstein Austrian-born English philosopher; died April 29.1889

♥~ 1904 – Charles K. Feldman film producer: Casino Royale, What’s New, Pussycat, Walk on the Wild Side, The Seven Year Itch, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie; died May 25, 1968

♥~ 1916– Morris West Australian novelist; died Oct 9, 1999

♥~ 1933 – Carol Burnett Emmy Award-winning comedienne, actress: Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall [1962-1963], Carol & Company [1962-1963], Mad About You [1996-1997]; The Carol Burnett Show, Carol Burnett and Friends, The Garry Moore Show

★~ Did You Know: Australia is the smallest continent in the world but the sixth largest country in the world.

♥~ No part of Australia is more than 1000 km from the ocean and a beach. (The point in the world that’s the furthest from any ocean would be in China.)

♥~ The world’s oldest Flower in the world was found in a fossil near Melbourne. It is called the Koonwarra plant, and it has two leaves and one flower. It is believed to be 120 million years old.

♥~ The world’s fastest growing tree is the Australian Eucalyptus. It can grow up to 10 metres in one year.

♥~ Australia is not connected by land to any other country and so it had developed its own wildlife. The kangaroo, the koala, the emu and the kookaburra are among the creatures found only in Australia.

♥~ The first European settlers in Australia apparently drank more alcohol per head of population than any other people in the history of mankind. Australia’s former Prime Ministers Bob Hawke was in the Guinness Book of World Records In 1954 because he drank 2.5 pints of beer in 11 seconds .

♥~ Tasmania has the cleanest air in the world.

♥~ Australia has the world’s largest cattle station (ranch). At 30,028 km2 it is almost the same size as Belgium.

♥~ The Great Barrier Reef is the largest organic construction on earth.

♥~ One of Australia’s greatest folk hero was a bushranger  named Ned Kelly who was finally captured at  Glenrowan Victoria and hanged at the  Melbourne Gaol (jail) on the 11th November 1880  where his last words were “Such is life.”

An American Goes To Australia:

Randy, a Texan farmer goes to Australia for a vacation.  There he meets an Glen, an Aussie farmer and gets talking.  The Aussie shows off his big wheat field and the Texan says, ‘Oh yeah.  We have wheat fields that are at least twice as large.’

Then they walk around the ranch a little, and the Glen shows off his herd of cattle. Then Randy immediately says, ‘We have longhorns that are at least twice as large as your cows.’

The conversation has, meanwhile, almost died when the Texan sees a herd of kangaroos hopping through the field and so he asks, ‘And what are those?’

‘Glen’, the Aussie replies with an incredulous look, ‘Don’t you have any grasshoppers in Texas?

 

Perhaps some of you think you saw this same post yesterday, and I just want to say . . . you did.

As I mentioned to you on the very first day of El Morno, dates are not my forte. I try to surround myself with detail-oriented people who have a sense of humor and love me.

Anyway, we are having a day do-over. I mean, really, can you hug an Aussie too often? Or eat too many pretzels? I didn’t think so . . . and yesterday’s events and birthdays were correct. So today, events and birthdays . . . are new! Are you following me? I thought so!

Have a great day (again) and drop me a comment if  you have a chance.

Kb