July 1st 2022 - Half-Way

I've had a number of July 1st ideas.  For example,   those whose birthdays are  between Dec 25th and Jan 1st  should celebrate their birthdays on July 1st so that they get a real birthday celebration.  And that given July 1st is half-way through the year, there should be fund-raising festivals on the theme "Christmas in July".   These are based on the days of the year, and not the ceremonial importance of this day as a celebration of nationhood. Canada's "Day" has been contentious throughout our history.    Last year things halted as the many graves at the residential school sites made clear what the colonialists did, and how long colonialist behaviours with residential schools lasted.  Last year there was a call to scale back Canada Day and to cancel Canada Day.   So here we are a year later, with a bit of progress towards resetting our views of history. In April  2022 Ryerson University  was renamed Toronto Metropolitan University.   After reading Egerton Ryerson's biography, my view is that there could be no other course of action.  His role as "father of public education" was so lauded that his other actions were ignored.  They were very significant.  He was a primary architect of the residential school system.  He was persuasive in his writings - supporting converting Indigenous people to Christianity in order to assimilate them.  He wrote that it was "a fact that they could not be civilized".   And much more.  He was prolific in his writings.  We weren't prolific in our readings, being tone deaf to what doesn't match up with a colonialist view.    So I am back to my Christmas in July idea.  Hallmark is already on it.  It starts July 16th with three new movies.  It will feature 24/7 Christmas movies throughout the Fourth of July weekend.  Here are a few of the titles: Sense, Sensibility and Snowmen Dickens of a Holiday Christmas Comes Twice The Santa Stakeout So this isn't a flag picture day.  We've soured a bit on the Canadian Flag when it got conscripted to the Convoy protest.  That is supposed to be underway again today.   So instead, we look at the Christmas scene below - it is an amazing contrast to our colourful summer scenes.

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Dec 31 2020 - Profanity Comes In as the Year Goes Out

 

This year, like no other, has significance in its ending.  We have a communal hopefulness that the next year will improve.  We hope that there will be no other year like this one. So I predict, given it is the end of the year, and there's a new one ahead, that 2020 will become part of our language as profanity.  A second prediction is that Trump will become also become a profane term.  I think it is going to start quite quickly with: That's a load of 2020!  and  That's a load of Trump! And will continue with What in the 2020...? So I went searching for confirmation of my prediction and find I am a little late - it is already on public billboards big and bold.   I hadn't considered "Shut the 2020 up".   There are a series of 2020 COVID-related messages that are very funny - they are  HERE.     Three Sisters Park is in Illinois and this sign is for hire with personal messages - you can see many more on their facebook site HERE:       And what about Trump as a profane term? This idea hasn't taken off yet.   What has happened, is that the American Future Fund created an ad that displays Trump's public displays of profanity vs public policy.  They feel that he is better at the profanity and so spent six figures on the ad.   It is an aggregation of some of Trump's most notable public displays of profanity.   They include "motherf*****," "a**," "p***y," "d**n," "s***," and "f***."  So maybe the profanity expressions will be: Don't Trump around me Clean up your Trump Flush that Trump Son of a Trump I foresee a whole line of jokes, like the despicable Yo' Mama jokes.  So we might be in for quite a ride.      This flower is Fritillaria meleagris with the common name Checkered Lily.  It is very small, and I have it in the garden.  We could imagine such a flower in Alice in Wonderland's Garden.  There are fantasy hockey, baseball and  basketball rankings, so why not fantasy garden flower rankings.  Looks like the start of the 2021 intentions/resolutions.   Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

It's Almost a New Year

A New Year

In order to realign the Roman calendar with the sun, Julius Caesar had to add 90 extra days to the year 46 B.C. when he introduced his new Julian calendar. The Julian calendar closely resembles the more modern Gregorian calendar that most (!) countries around the world use today. As part of his reform, Caesar instituted January 1 as the first day of the year, partly to honour the month’s namesake: Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, whose two faces allowed him to look back into the past and forward into the future.  The move to the Gregorian Calendar took place starting in 1582 and was adopted country by country.  There's a schedule here: 

http://www.tondering.dk/claus/cal/gregorian.php

What are the unusual New Year's traditions - Spain's 12 grapes seems to make the top of the list for many. In Spain they eat 12 grapes at midnight - one for each stroke of the clock and for the coming 12 months ahead.  They have to be eaten in 12 seconds for the new year to have good luck.

There are six common profiles of those who've been (mostly) successful achieving this feat:

1. Zen Master – Neatly lines up the grapes and methodically eats them one by one, while meditating on the sound of the 12 chimes. Starts the New Year fully in the moment.
2. Full Frontal – Embraces the New Year with gusto by shoving all of the grapes in their mouth at once. Worries about swallowing them later.
3. False Starter – Anxious about getting all 12 grapes down, starts eating the first one before midnight strikes, which doesn’t count and is said to bring bad luck.
4. Reina Isabel – Prepares grapes in advance by cutting them in half. Eats them with a fork from a plate. Eating the grapes by halves may be less authentic, but it is the best method for small children, and for anyone worried about looking like a slob.
5. Exhibitionist – Also known as “el chulo.” Sees grape eating as another extreme sport, or just a chance to show off. Starts the New Year with an ego boost, by throwing the grapes in the air and catching them in their mouth. Requires secret pre-New Years’ Eve practice.
6. Drunken Style – Makes an effort to eat the grapes but cracks up, starts talking, drinking, hugging or otherwise gets distracted midway through the 12 grapes. This is, needless to say, what happens most often. Happy New Year

The most famous ritual in the U.S. is the dropping of a giant ball in New York City's Times Square. Dillsburg Pennsylvania drops a pickle in celebration of the stroke of midnight.