~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
May 2, 2012

★~ Today’s Quote:  Grumpy: [watching the Dwarfs washing themselves] Next thing you know, she’ll be tyin’ your beards up in pink ribbons and smellin’ ya up with that stuff called, uh… “perfoom”.

★~ Scurvy Awareness Day:

“Eat your greens and drink your juicy . . . you don’t want SCURVY,” my sweet mother would say to me when I was growing up. I had no idea what scurvy was, but it sounded just awful, so I always ate my greens and drank my juicy.  These days I know what  ‘scurvy’ is (thank you Google), and just like my sweet mother said, you don’t want it. I have no intention of sharing the gruesome details with you over a morning cuppa . . . suffice to say, make sure you get, what pirates call, ‘yer daily glass of arrr-ange juice.’

★~ Grump Out Day: 

Don’t be grumpy; be happy! After all, any day you don’t have scurvy is a good day, right? Spend today smiling at everyone you meet and spreading peace, joy, harmony, and lighthearted humor..
★~ Play your Ukulele Day:

Ukulele Day dedicated to all things ukulele, sometimes called the uke.  The ukulele was introduced in Hawaii about 1879, by a group of Portuguese immigrants from Madeira.  João Fernandes, a native of Madeira, is credit with having played the “braguinha” – the original name in Portuguese — in Hawaii for the first time. The Hawaiians renamed the “braguinha” as “ukulele” in reference to “jumping flea” as suggested by the jumping motion of the hands playing the instrument.

The ukulele, was introduced in the mainland United States around 1915, after being featured at the Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. Later the ukulele gained acclaim in Japan and the United Kingdom and from there around the world.

Elvis Presley, George Harrison, Elvis Costelo, Bruce Springsteen and Tiny Tim were fond of the ukulele.  Do we have any El Morno Uke players?

★~ Chocolate Truffle Day:

Historians believe Prestat Chocolate Shop in London was  solely responsible for popularizing chocolate truffles in England (and beyond).The first recipes for chocolate truffles appeared in the 1920s. Today there are three main types—American, European, and Swiss. Each type of truffle has a slightly different twist, but they all include a creamy ganache filling and a topping like cocoa, coconut, or drizzled chocolate. I bet you did not know that Roald Dahl, the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was a huge fan of Prestat truffles!

Celebrate National Truffle Day,  by popping a chocolate truffle in your mouth!

★~ Update: Some holiday calendars note today as ‘brother’s and sisters’ day, insisting brother and sisters day is different than sibling day which we celebrated on April 10th.  I would ask, “different how” but in an attempt to spread joy, peace, and good humor I will simple request you click this link  if you would like to celebrate brothers and sisters day or sibling day.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1885 – A new magazine for homemakers went on sale. You can still get it by mail or find it right next to the cash register at your favorite grocery store. The magazine is Good Housekeeping.

♥~ 1953 – Dark Star defeated the heavily favored Native Dancer to win the Kentucky Derby. A $2 wager to win on this dark horse would have put some change in your pocket. Dark Star was a 25-1 long shot.

♥~ 1969 – The British liner Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) left on her maiden voyage to New York.

♥~ 1981 – Scottish singer Sheena Easton made it to the top spot on the pop music charts for her first — and only — time. Morning Train (Nine to Five) knocked Kiss on My List, by Daryl Hall and John Oates, out of the top of the music charts.  Morning Train pulled into the top spot for a two-week stay.

♥~  Iowa spent $6,000 to change the locks at one of its state prisons after someone paid $12 on e-Bay for a set of keys belonging to a guard who retired in the 1970s.

♥~ 2011 – International terrorist icon Osama bin Laden, architect of the Sep 11, 2001 attacks in New York City, was killed in an early morning firefight in Abbotabad, Pakistan.

★~ Born Today: 

♥~1903 – Benjamin Spock baby doctor, author: The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care; died Mar 15, 1998

♥~1904 – Bing Crosby, US singer who recorded an estimated 2,600 songs in his lifetime including ‘White Christmas’, which was written by Irving Berlin. Crosby had 317 other hits in the USA. Died of a heart attack on a golf course in Madrid, Spain, on October 14, 1977.

♥~ 1936 – Engelbert Humperdinck (Arnold George Dorsey) singer: After the Lovin’, Release Me, There Goes My Everything, The Last Waltz, A Man Without Love, Winter World of Love, Les Bicyclettes de Belsize

♥~ 1937 – Lorenzo Music actor: voice of Garfield, Carlton the Doorman [in Rhoda]; Emmy Award-winning producer: Carlton, Your Doorman [5/21/80]; died Aug 4, 2001

♥~ 1945 – Bianca Jagger actress, model; Mick Jagger’s ex

♥~1952 – Christine Baranski actress: The Good Wife, Chicago: The Musical, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Odd Couple II, The Birdcage, Addams Family Values, Welcome to Mooseport

★~ Did You Know: (In honor of Dr. Spock Birthday)

♥~ 1 baby is born every 8 seconds in the U.S.

♥~ During the nine months between conception and birth, a baby’s weight increases 3,000 million times. On average. And this doesn’t even take into account for multiple births.

♥~ Wednesday’s is the day of the week most babies are born on and the month of August wins the title for most babied born (US).

♥~ Babies born today have life expectancy of 78.11 years.

♥~ A tribe in Africa whose diet consists mostly of yams was recently found to have exceptionally high rates of twins and multiple births.

♥~ A Turned Head Means A Full Belly :  If a newborn turns her head at a spoonful of food, it is because they are full. This is also where shaking your head “no” comes from.

♥~ 105 boys are born for every 100 girls – worldwide

♥~ Men change diapers more efficiently than women accomplishing the task in only 1 minute and 36 second, while women take an average of 2 minutes and 5 seconds.

♥~ About 1 in five toddlers can open bottles with child-resistant tops.

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Today’s EL Morno holidays were a little challenging. It just seems to me that Chocolate Truffle day and Scurvy Awareness Day should be celebrated on different days.  Wouldn’t it make more sense to celebrate Orange Juice today, or something with Vitamin C? Of-course, celebrating chocolate is always a good thing.  Hey maybe I hit on something–if you have scurvy a chocolate truffle will make you feel better, and therefore less grumpy.  If you have scurvy and die it would be classy to serve chocolate truffles at your wake and of-course play a nice Uke tune. And if you don’t have scurvy that is certainly worth celebrating by happily popping Chocolate truffles in your mouth and dancing to the tune of a uke.

Perhaps I need to go away now. Do leave a comment and share your thoughts…Odd Loves Company!

♥