~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
October 20, 2012

★~ Today’s Quote:  The light at the end of the tunnel is not an illusion. The tunnel is. ~Anonymous

★~ Sweetest Day:

Today is Sweetest Day! Originally named “The Sweetest Day of the Year,” this holiday celebrates all things sweet. Although it may sound similar to Valentine’s Day, Sweetest Day does not focus exclusively on romantic love. Instead it serves as a reminder that a thoughtful deed makes life a whole lot sweeter.

Sweetest Day originated in Cleveland, Ohio in 1921. A committee of twelve candy confectioners decided to spread joy and cheer to those that were often forgotten during the holidays. They distributed over 20,000 boxes of candy to newsboys, orphans, hospital patients, the elderly, and the poor across the city.

★~Brandied Fruit Day: 

What is brandied fruit? Fruit, sugar, and brandy. The word “brandy” originally comes from the Dutch word “ ,” which means burnt wine. Dutch traders introduced brandy to Northern Europe, as well as France and Spain, during the 16th century, and the name stuck. Click for details on making your own Brandied Fruit http://www.crinellawinery.com/family_cookbook/brandiedfruit.shtml

Since Brandied Fruit needs to “age,” why not make it today to enjoy in a few weeks or months over ice cream, pound cake, or sponge cake? When the winter dreariness hits, Brandied Fruit just might help you see the light of spring.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1910 – A baseball with a cork center was used in a World Series game for the first time.

♥~ 1955 – “Day-O. Day-ay-ay-ay-o!” One of the most popular of the Harry Belafonte hits was recorded — for RCA Victor. Day-O didn’t make it to the pop charts for over a year (January 1957),

♥~ 1962 – Bobby “Boris” Picket and the Crypt Kickers reached the top of the charts (for two weeks) with The Monster Mash.

♥~ 2002 – 22-year-old Yao Ming, 7-foot-5-inch basketball playerfrom China, arrived in Texas to join the Houston Rockets.

♥~ 2003 – A 40-year-old man survived a 150-foot plunge over the fast-flowing Canadian side Niagara Falls — without a safety device.Kirk Joneswas charged with mischief and “unlawfully performing a stunt.” Jones said he was driven by depression, not a desire to become a daredevil. In other words he failed at killing himself. Click for more Niagara falls facts  https://oddlovescompany.com/2011/10/october-20-brandied-fruit-day/

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1882 – Bela Lugosi (Blasko) actor: Dracula, One Body Too Many, The Ghost of Frankenstein, Murders in the Rue Morgue, Night Monster, Chandu the Magician, The Ape Man, The Body Snatcher; died Aug 16, 1956

♥~ 1932 – William Christopher actor: Father Mulcahy M*A*S*H, Aftermash, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., With Six You Get Eggroll

★~ Did You Know: 

♥~ Many scholars argue the word “vampire” is either from the Hungarian vampir or from the Turkish upior, upper, upyr meaning “witch.” Other scholars argue the term derived from the Greek word “to drink” or from the Greek nosophoros meaning “plague carrier.”

♥~ The Muppet vampire, Count von Count from Sesame Street, is based on actual vampire myth. One way to supposedly deter a vampire is to throw seeds (usually mustard) outside a door or place fishing net outside a window. Vampires are compelled to count the seeds or the holes in the net, delaying them until the sun comes up

♥~ The first vampire movie is supposedly Secrets of House No. 5 in 1912. F.W. Murnau’s silent black-and-white Nosferatu came soon after, in 1922. However, it was Tod Browning’s Dracula—with the erotic, charming, cape- and tuxedo-clad aristocrat played by Bela Lugosi—that became the hallmark of vampire movies and literature.

♥~ A vampire supposedly has control over the animal world and can turn into a bat, rat, owl, moth, fox, or wolf.

♥~ Before Christianity, methods of repelling vampires included garlic, hawthorn branches, rowan trees (later used to make crosses), scattering of seeds, fire, decapitation with a gravedigger’s spade, salt (associated with preservation and purity), iron, bells, a rooster’s crow, peppermint, running water, and burying a suspected vampire at a crossroads. It was also not unusual for a corpse to be buried face down so it would dig down the wrong way and become lost in the earth

♥~Hollywood and literary vampires typically deviate from folklore vampires. For example, Hollywood vampires are typically pale, aristocratic, very old, need their native soil, are supernaturally beautiful, and usually need to be bitten to become a vampire. In contrast, folklore vampires (before Bram Stoker) are usually peasants, recently dead, initially appear as shapeless “bags of blood,” do not need their native soil, and are often cremated with or without being staked.

♥~ In some vampire folktales, vampires can marry and move to another city where they take up jobs suitable for vampires, such as butchers, barbers, and tailors.

♥~ Certain regions in the Balkans believed that fruit, such as pumpkins or watermelons, would become vampires if they were left out longer than 10 days or not consumed by Christmas. Vampire pumpkins or watermelons generally were not feared because they do not have teeth. A drop of blood on a fruit’s skin is a sign that it is about to turn into a vampire.

♥~ Mermaids can also be vampires—but instead of sucking blood, they suck out the breath of their victims.

♥~ By the end of the twentieth century, over 300 motion pictures were made about vampires, and over 100 of them featured Dracula. Over 1,000 vampire novels were published, most within the past 25 years.

♥~ The most popular vampire in children’s fiction in recent years had been Bunnicula, the cute little rabbit that lives a happy existence as a vegetarian vampire.

♥~ Some historians argue that Prince Charles is a direct descendant of the Vlad the Impaler, the son of Vlad Dracula

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It’s a beautiful day in Chicago–Autumn cool with sunshine pouring through the golden fall trees. I’m not sure what the day will bring but I’m expecting good things!

Odd Loves Company!

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