~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
December 14

★~ Today’s Quote: Just cause you got the monkey off your back doesn’t mean the circus has left town. George Carlin

★~ Monkey Day:

Let’s engage in a little monkey business today in honor of the monkey. We can swing by our tails, eat bananas, be loud and raucous, and when we don’t get our way, howl loudly. Of course, not all monkeys are like this; you could celebrate today like Albert II, who was such a reliable monkey the space program handed over the US-launched V2 Rocket for him to fly in 1949. He flew the rocket with the greatest of ease; it was the landing that sent him to his undeserved just reward when his parachute did not open. I wonder if on the way down Albert thought, “Gee, I sure wish I had eaten a few more bananas and swung by tail a little more often…” or if he thought, “Damn humans—monkeying around again.

★~ Bouillabaisse Day:

What the heck is bouillabaisse?” you ask. “Fish soup,” I say. “Yuck,” you reply. But before you go jumping to conclusions, give bouillabaisse a chance. After all, it’s trés chic in the Mediterranean, and French people have been slurping this soup since 600 B.C. And since when have the French ever eaten anything weird?

Bouillabaisse originated in Marseilles, France. Marseille fishermen typically make the dish when they return to port. Rather than using the more expensive fish that they catch, they use common fish like rockfish and shellfish. For flavor, different herbs and spices such as garlic, orange peel, basil, saffron, and bay leaf are added to the soup. Vegetables like tomatoes, onions, celery, and potatoes were added during the 17th century.

When bouillabaisse is made, it is rarely made for fewer than ten people. The more people who share the meal, the more different varieties of fish that are included in the soup, making it a tastier bouillabaisse.

If I could only find ten people to make bouillabaisse for, I would make it for tonight’s dinner—but instead maybe I will see if our local fish store (Burhop’s) carries it and feed it to Cole!

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1798 – David Wilkinson of Rhode Island patented the nut and bolt machine, and the screw, too

♥~ 1819 –  Alabama became the 22nd United State.  Montgomery is the state capital;  the camellia, is the state flower, and the state bird, is the yellowhammer.

♥~ 1944 – MGM released the movie National Velvet. Elizabeth Taylor starred as Velvet Brown.

♥~ 1985 – America’s winningest high school football coach called it quits this day. Gordon Wood, 71, of Brownwood High School in Central Texas retired after 43 years. Wood sported a career record of 405 wins, 88 losses and 12 ties. The football stadium at Brownwood High has since been rebuilt and named for him.

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1503 – Nostradamus (Michel de Notredame) was destined to tell the world about its destiny. He was born at St. Remy, Provence, France.  Nostradamus, is the author of ten books of prophecies, titled Centuries (Volumes I-X), that many still believe foretold the future. He was a physician, an astrologer and a clairvoyant.

Nostradamus’ famous astrological predictions were written in rhyming quatrains (four-line poems) and, according to many readers of our time, accurately predicted the Great London Fire in 1666, Spain’s Civil War, and a Hitler who would lead Germany into war. He even correctly predicted his own death on July 2, 1566.

Acclaimed today as one of the most accurate seers in the history of the world, he wrote in code, since in his day, if he was found out, he would have been considered a sorcerer and would probably have been burned at the stake. He used symbolism, metaphors, and added and deleted letters to make his writings even more obscure. Most were written in French, although Nostradamus, an educated man, would also use Italian, Greek and Latin. What if something got lost in the translation?

Since none of us really knows, nor do we know what his code was, nor which calendar Nostradamus was using, we can only try to make events fit into the 942 quatrains. That’s a lot of history and a lot of destiny to prove. Is it fact or fancy?

♥~ 1946 – Patty (Anna Marie) Duke Academy Award-winning actress: The Miracle Worker [1962]; Emmy: Captains and the Kings [1976-1977]

♥~ 1949 – Cliff Williams musician: guitar: group: AC/DC:

★~ Did You Know:

♥ ~ The origins of the word “monkey” are unclear. It could come from Moneke, the name of the son of Martin the Ape in a medieval animal story. It appears also to be related to manikin, from the Dutch manneken (“little man”)

♥ ~ Monkeys are most easily distinguished from apes by their tails. Apes have no tails.

♥ ~ Grinning or pulling the lip is a sign of aggression in monkeys, along with yawning, head bobbing, and jerking the head and shoulders forward.

♥ ~ Monkeys peel their bananas and do not eat the skins.

♥ ~ The male of the howler monkey in Amazon  is the loudest creature on the planet and its howl can be heard as far as away as 10 miles. Howler monkeys are the laziest monkeys spending 80% of their life sleeping.

♥ ~ South American Titi monkeys are rare among primates because they are monogamous. They mate for life and become distressed when separated. They show affection by remaining close, grooming each other, intertwining their tails, holding hands, nuzzling, cuddling, and lip smacking.

♥ ~ Even though humans have struggled for centuries to find a cure for the common cold, monkeys needn’t worry. Monkeys never catch cold.

♥ ~ Back in 1924, a monkey was convicted in South Bend,Indiana of the crime of smoking a cigarette and sentenced to pay a 25 dollar fine and the trial costs.

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We have our school winter concert tonight.  Cole will be wearing new black pants, a new white shirt and loud brightly colored Niki shoes. He is adamant that he only needs one pair of shoes. If questioned, I will simple say I’m supporting his Zen like simplistic approach to life. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

If you have a morno moment, let me know, if you like Bouillabaisse.  Odd Loves Company.

Wishing you a Wednesday with a little time left over to monkey around.

♥