~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
August 5th, 2012

★~ Today’s Quote: “We’ll be Friends Forever, won’t we, Pooh?’ asked Piglet. Even longer,’ Pooh answered.” –A.A. Milne, Winnie-the Pooh

★~ Friendship Day:

Winnie the Pooh was made the ambassador of Friendship Day after The Forgotten Olympic Art Competitions in 1935. Winnie the Pooh has lots of friends that live with him in the Hundred Acre Woods–Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, Roo, Eeyore and Owl but of course, his main squeeze is Christopher Robin.  My sweet mother always says–“To have a friend, you must first be a friend.” But she might have said that back in the days when she was my really sweet mom opposed to just my sweet mom.  Spend today catching up with old friends or  making a new one.

★~ Sisters Day:

Did you know that 80-90 percent of all the people in the USA have at least one birth sibling? By the time we’re 11 years old, we have spent over 30 percent of our spare time exclusively with our brothers and sisters. Talk on the phone, grab lunch, hit the beach or watch some home videos with your sissy today! Happy Sisters’ Day!

★~ Work Like A Dog Day:

If you’ve ever wondered how hard a dog really works, take a look at what your dog is doing right now…and then ask yourself who is working to feed whom. There is such irony in the idiom “works like a dog.”  I suggest celebrating today by curling up on the couch, asking for a back rub, and eating your favorite treats all day.

★~ International Beer Day:

Beer lover Jesse Avshalomov, along with a posse of friends and fellow beer advocates (Evan Hamilton, Aaron Araki and Richard Hernandez), founded International Beer Day back in 2007 as a celebration of beer and the people who provide it. Consider this Sunday, August 5th to be a beer love-fest. This international holiday was created to celebrate the production, consumption and enjoyment of beer. Did you know that beer may have been invented before bread? That’s right! Legend has it that our prehistoric ancestors brewed the first beer from grain before they baked the first loaf of bread! Whether you’re a lager lover or a cask ale connoisseur, raise your glass for International Beer Day!

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1914 – the founder of the modern Olympic Games in gold, silver, and bronze, Ohio became the first intersection in the U.S. to be equipped with an electric traffic light. The lighting ceremony occurred on this day

♥~ 1924 – The comic strip Little Orphan Annie debuted in the New York Daily News. Annie and her little dog, Sandy, were creations of cartoonist Harold Gray.

♥~ 1957 – “American Bandstand,” hosted by Dick Clark, made its network TV debut on ABC. The first record played was Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be the Day.”

♥~ 1975 – Singer Stevie Wonder signed the recording industry’s largest contract: $13 million over a seven-year period.

♥~ 1990 – The world’s tallest cake was completed. The cake was baked and served at the Shiawassee County Fair in Corunna, Michigan. The cake was just over 101 feet tall (1,214.5 inches), consisting of 100 tiers of equal height.

♥~ 2002 – 1,135 mothers in Berkeley, California, set a new Guinness record for “Most Women Breast-Feeding Simultaneously.” The previous record was held by 767 Australian women. To promote the health benefits of breast-feeding, the Berkley moms marched from a park for the mass nurse-in at a nearby theater.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1906 – John Huston Academy Award-winning director: Treasure of Sierra Madre [1948]; The Maltese Falcon, The African Queen, Prizzi’s Honor; father of Academy Award-winning actress Angelica Huston; died Aug 28, 1987

♥~ 1930 – Neil Armstrong NASA astronaut: command pilot of Gemini 8 [launched Mar 16, 1966],  Armstrong was first man to land a craft on the Moon and first man to step onto its surface

♥~ 1945 – Loni Anderson actress: WKRP in Cincinnati, The Jayne Mansfield Story, Easy Street, Necessity, Nurses

♥~ 1956 – Maureen McCormick actress: A Very Brady Christmas, The Brady Bunch

★~ Did You Know: Art used to be an Olympic Event?

Sure, Michael Phelps has won 22 Olympic medals but can he paint or sculpt?

According to The Forgotten Olympic Art Competitions by historian Richard Stanton, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, viewed the Olympics as a model school system that, like the ancient Olympics, should “embrace the entire known world.” A true Olympian wasn’t just an expert swimmer, or the fastest runner; he was also a watercolorist, a sculptor, or a musician. Coubertin, even proposed an event that consisted of a 14km race and a written essay, seeking men educated in both mind and body. At de Coubertin’s urging, the Olympic Games featured art competitions between 1912 and 1948. Though the categories varied and medals were not always awarded, gold, silver, and bronze were handed out during most of these years to the best in literature, painting, sculpture, architecture, and music composition.

Only two people in history have reunited Muscle and Mind in the Olympics, to win a medal in both sport and art. In 1912, American Walter Winans became the first and only Olympian in history to win medals for shooting and sculpture. And in 1896, Alfred Hajos (pictured left) of Hungary won two golds in swimming. He returned to the Olympics 28 years later and received a silver medal in architecture for a design of a swimming stadium. The art competitions were abolished in 1949 because nearly all entrants were professionals. At the time, all Olympian participants had to be amateurs. Of course, now that they’ve started allowing professional athletes back into the mix, perhaps future Olympians should start practicing their watercolor.

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After a wicked Chicago storm yesterday, we are having a beautiful Chicago Sunday with mild temperatures and sunny skies. After breakfast at Sally’s (our Sunday breakfast place), we’ll take Ryan to the beach so he can take a swim in Lake Michigan.

What are your plans for today?

Odd Loves Company!