so, yes, then. a new month so a new calendar update it is. this is a leap year, look you see, hence Van Halen's Jump being used for the title. so there is one day more than usual for this time of year, which is, you know, great. none of us get paid one extra day more, so far as i am aware. well, i guess you do if you are on a daily contract or something like that.
i am fairly confident that i have covered the origins of the name of the month before, and indeed this whole leap year business (nonsense, perhaps). with respect to the latter, a leap year happens due to either our planet or the Sun being a bit petulant (think Greta off of Sweden on a planetary scale) and not respecting the magic of the Gregorian calendar, which means it does not take exactly 365 days precisely to do an orbit or rotation or whatever. so, to balance the books, we have a leap year every four years, except for once every 100 years, when we do not, unless the year which falls on the 100 year marker is perfectly divisible by 400. compare calendars for 1900 and 2000 for more insight into this.
up in the kitchen of our home one will find a Star Wars calendar, since Poundland opted against stocking Winnie The Pooh ones this year. well, at least they did this in respect of the branch i went into for a gander. yes, that is indeed Darth Vader on display.
one of the (frequently) overlooked events to happen in a leap year is that february tends to, for a change, get a decent picture on calendars. with such a short number of days it is common for the calendar makers of the world to use a rather sh!tty and dull image that they are for some reason contractually obliged to include. on non-leap year calendars, for example, usually february on Star Wars calendars will feature something like the gay robot and his mate the bin robot, or perhaps even that annoying frog which cannot speak properly. the extra day of a leap year sees them consider it worthwhile bringing out one of the better know (and more well liked) characters.
anything of consequence worth noting the date of in February? sure, plenty of things. well, one or two, i guess. here are some for your consideration.
3 - this was the day on which, in 1959, the Big Bopper, Richie Valens and Buddy Holly died in a plane crash.
7 - now is a good day to read a long and needlessly convoluted novel to celebrate the birth of Charles "Charlie Chas" Dickens, who was indeed born on this day in 1812.
11 - a day of the unexpected, really. on this day in 1990, Nelson Mandela is released from prison, and James "Buster" Douglas knocks the absolute f*** out of "Iron" Mike Tyson. kind of. many newspapers around the world reported these two things in unison, with the (admittedly) clever headline Down And Out.
14 - a number of people who disagree with the business ethics of Al Capone are brutally gunned down on this day in 1929. for some reason a decision was taken to commemorate this event as Valentine's Day, with people now celebrating it with cards and gifts such as flowers and chocolates.
18 - on this day in 1973 David Bowie played a gig at The Tower, Philadelphia. more here.
18 - The King, Elvis Presley bestowed His justice unto miscreants who attempted to get onto His stage during His gig on this day in 1973. more here.
18 - a tennis court is not a usual place for one to see a Rolling Stones gig, but this was 1973, and Australia. more here, from a time when Rolling Stones gigs were not all about funding the very latest in Ronnie Wood divorce costs.
18 - class band The Sweet were at number one in the UK chart with Blockbuster!, which is a really, really good song. more here.
22 - a very happy birthday indeed to Den Dennis out of Bad News. or if you prefer Neil out of The Young Ones. or if you insist Nigel Planer, born 1953.
29 - on this day in 1940 Hattie McDaniel won one of them Oscar things for her performance in Gone With The Wind. no, never seen it, but looks all right.
29 - a very happy birthday to Gehad Grisha, Egypt's best, greatest and most important referee.
29 - down in that there Cardiff, look you see, Middlesbrough slayed Bolton in 2004 to win the league cup, widely considered to be the best, greatest and most important trophy in all of all sports, except of course for the Ashes.
29 - Prince Harry is stopped from shooting people in Afghanistan by the British military over concerns for his safety on this day in 2008. skip forward a couple (or so) of leap years to now (2020), and he's just Harry, with slightly less concern about his safety being in place.
29 - the great Davy Jones out of The Monkees passed away on this day in 2012. let us not forget, if nothing else, if it were not for Davy Jones we would not have had David Bowie, just David Jones.
but, as standard, i am keen (eager) to stress that this is far from a comprehensive list. for the most part you are better off just finding your own reasons to celebrate days in the month, and go right ahead with whatever you feel to be appropriate celebrations.
is it that the leap year thing is unique to the English way of doing things, or do all nations around the world include (or celebrate) it in their calendars? how about New Zealand? well, in that respect, we can just go along and ask Mr New Zealand Calendar, can we not.
yes, as you can see, yes they do. well, it would be quite silly for any country not to include the date of february 29 on any leap year calendar, as doing so would leave them terribly out of sync for the remainder of the year, and beyond, with the rest of the world what did think on and planned to include it.
right, well, there we have it. i trust this glimpse at the calendars enables (or allows) you to plan the month ahead. best, presumably, if i now leave this here, and let you just get on with the month. or crack on, i suppose, if that is a more comfortable way to describe it in the lexicon of your choice.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment