~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
April 9, 2012

★~ Today’s Quote: “If you are a dreamer, come in. If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, a Hope-er, a Pray-er, a Magic Bean buyer; if you’re a pretender, come sit by my fire. For we have some flax-golden tales to spin. Come in! Come in!” — Shel Silverstein

★~ Dyngus Day:

In Poland, Easter Monday is known as Wet Easter Monday, when boys try to drench girls with buckets of water, squirt guns, or whatever’s available. In some towns, they use twigs to switch the girls. The tradition has it that if a girl receives a drenching or switching, she will marry within the year.  In some Polish villages, Dyngus Day is celebrated by loading up the family rooster and going from house to house asking for treats – kind of like trick or treating, but you must take along the family rooster. Why? I have no idea.

Easter Monday is all about the joy of Easter and celebrating love – ancient and new – and life – new and eternal – with wonderful if not somewhat childish pranks. And, dancing. And, food. And yes, beer.

★~ Cherish an Antique Day:

Do you have any family heirlooms hidden away in your closets? .In 1979, the first episode of Antiques Roadshow aired in the United Kingdom. Local residents presented their family heirlooms and collectibles for appraisal, and learned their true value. The show was an instant success and is still in production today. On the American version of the show, the most valuable find to date was a set of carved rhinoceros horn cups, which were appraised at $1-$1.5 million!  Happy antiquing!

★~ Chinese Almond Cookie Day:

Chinese almond cookies are round, flat and adorned with an almond sliver. Whip up a batch of the cookies or just head out to your favorite Chinese restaurant.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1882 –  The most famous impresario P.T. Barnum bought the 11½-foot-tall and seven-ton animal for $10,000. Jumbo arrived at Manhattan, NY, on Easter Sunday. In an amazing spectacle, Jumbo paraded up Broadway in a crate pulled by 16 horses. Jumbo was just as popular in the US as he was in Britain, and his name entered the English language to describe anything oversized.

♥~ 1878 – The 134th White House Easter Egg Roll. Children roll eggs across the lawn using long spoons. Games, food, live entertainment accompany the annual event,

♥~ 1953- Warner Brothers, the first of the major Hollywood studios to introduce 3-D motion pictures, chose this day to premiere “The House of Wax” at the Paramount Theatre in New York City. The stage show preceding the movie was headed by singer Eddie Fisher. The film’s stars, Vincent Price, Phyllis Kirk and Frank Lovejoy attended the premiere. 23 3-D films were released in 1953, The House of Wax being the first.

♥~ 1956 – Grace Kelly graced the cover of LIFE magazine. The caption read, “Education of a princess; for a movie and for real.”

♥~ 1963- Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was named an honorary United States citizen by President Kennedy. Churchill was the British Prime Minister during World War II, and he worked extensively with Roosevelt to achieve victory. He was the second person ever to receive the honorary US citizenship (Marquis de LaFayette was the first, and since then only 6 other world figures have joined the club). So let’s all put on our trench coats, light a cigar, and pay tribute to Churchill and his legacy

♥~ 1965 – TIME magazine featured a cover with the entire Peanuts gang on this day. It was a good day for Charlie Brown.

♥~ 1977 – The Swedish pop group Abba made its debut at number one on the American pop charts, as Dancing Queen became the most popular record in the U.S.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1926 – Hugh Hefner publisher: Playboy magazine

♥~ 1939 – Michael Learned Emmy Award-winning actress: The Waltons [1972-73, 1973-74, 1975-76; Nurse [1981-82]; Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, All My Sons, Deadly Business, A Christmas Without Snow

♥~ 1954 – Dennis Quaid actor: Dragonheart, Wyatt Earp, Postcards from the Edge, Everybody’s All-American, The Right Stuff, Jaws 3, The Long Riders, Breaking Away, September 30, 1955, Switchback, Frequency, Traffic; songwriter, actor: The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia, Tough Enough, The Big Easy; brother of actor Randy Quaid

♥~ 1979 – Keshia Knight Pulliam actress: The Cosby Show

♥~ 1986 – Leighton Meester Actress (“Gossip Girl”)

♥~ 1990 – Kristen Stewart Actress  (“Twilight” movies)

★~ Did You Know:

♥~ In 1988, a Gloucestershire bookseller paid  $8, 843.00 for a lock of Lord Nelson’s hair.

♥~ One of Sir Isaac Newton’s teeth was sold for $3, 241 in 1816. It was bought by a nobleman who had it set in a ring.

♥~ The red slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz fetched  $165,000 at auction in 1988.

♥~ A bottle of 50-year-old  Glenfiddich whisky was sold to an Italian businessman for 38.000.

♥~ The loin-cloth which Charlton Heston wore in the movie Ben Hur was auctioned for 1,650 in 1997.

♥~ In 1993, a two-tone, mint condition Dinky toy Foden tanker, purchased in the 1950s, was sold to a Californian for $7,667.

♥~ A yo-yo signed by President Nixon sold for  $16,029 at auction.

♥~ A 1965 letter written by John Lennon to this then wife Cynthia was sold for 22,525 in 1997.

♥~ A Stiff teddy bear was sold for $143,640 to a Japanese businessman in 1994.

♥~ A four inch long lock of Beethoven’s hair was sold for $5,223.30 in 1994.

♥~ The marriage certificate of Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller was sold for $9,793.68

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I will tell you a sweet tale in honor of Dyngus Day:  Did you ever wonder how the pussy willow got its name? According to Polish legend, many springs ago, baby kittens fell into a raging river while chasing butterflies. The mother cat sadly wept at the river’s edge, pleading for help for her drowning kittens. The willows heard her mournful cries and swept their long graceful branches into the water. The kittens grabbed the branches, held on tightly and were safely brought to shore. Every spring, from that day on, the willows sprouted fur-like buds where the tiny kittens once clung.

Here is a little awww-some for you:

My peep is still on his road trip but due home sometime today. I suspect he will arrive home, kiss his mom offer a few details and take his car back out again. Have car will go, will be his new motto. I remember when he suffered such separation anxiety that Joe and I could not leave him without being called home again–times have certainly changed. See you in a little bit—In the mean time leave a comment and tell me what in the world you have been up too…ODD LOVES COMPANY! 

Click here if you are looking for Name Yourself Day.