Nick and Shoes

Can’t wait until Christmas?

You don’t have to!

Go and check your shoes…

Right now!

Is there anything in them?

Are they filled with lollies?

Apples or Nuts?

Coins?

Did you find a present?

No?

Maybe you didn’t leave

 your shoes by the chimney?

Maybe next year.

Today is St Nicholas Day.

Kids leave their shoes

by the chimney,

Good Old Nick turns up

 during the night and leaves

 a small gift in the kids' (stinky) shoes!

I did read about one poor

 teacher’s story

about this tradition.

She taught some childen

who were lucky enough

to have been visited by St Nicholas.

 They came to school,

excited and happy to tell their

classmates all about it.

 Those poor kids who were not

 visited by St Nick were

devastated and crying,

asking why they were not visited!

Oh, imagine!

I wonder how worried those kids

 were on Christmas Eve –

and how relieved

they must have been

 to wake up to presents

 on Christmas Day!

On that note – I have had

to supress a grin or two

when the kids in my class

 have told me about seeing Santa –

the REAL one!!

Oh, the fun of Christmas

when Santa is still real!

You Saw Nothing!

Today was so sneaky,

it almost snuck through

without being seen!

Just like a ninja!

Today is Ninja Day.   ­­­

Ninjas were professional spies,

sneaking in, finding secrets

and killing people

without being seen.

Before you throw today

 into the Crazy Day basket

 and leave this page…

you should know

that the white House security

and American SWAT teams

are trained by real-life ninjas.

Cool.

So, perhaps, ancient ninjas

were originally mountain priests.

Back between 592 and 710,

there are many references

to ninjas and their ability

 to sneak in,

gather information

and sneak away!

The most famous time for ninjas,

 however, was between

the 12^th and 16^th centuries.

During wars, they were hired

 as assassins

and were used as spies.

  Once things settled

and the country became peaceful

once more,

no-one needed anyone killed…

no secrets needed to be known…

the ninjas moment

to shine was over.

They were now jobless…

what to do?

They began writing…

explaining their training…

their tools…

their weapons…

and their skills.

Stories were written about them

 and movies were made.

While one time,

they dressed to blend in

 with the people around them

(black clothes and a mask

hardly hid you in a crowd!).

 Most ninjas wore blue outfits –

 the same clothing worn

by pheasants of the time.

People soon wrote about ninjas

 as though they were magical,

black-wearing sleuths

and killers…

superheroes and legends…

and this is still how

 we consider ninjas to be.

Perhaps, you could sneak up

behind someone tonight…

act like a ninja and scare them

(killing them may not be

 such a good idea –

just give them a good scare!)

Happy Ninja Day!

A Play on Needles

Pins And Needles Day

Have you ever woken

from a deep sleep –

only to realise that you can

 no longer feel your arm?

Have you shaken that arm,

knowing it is moving,

but unable to feel it move?

Have you lifted it

with your other arm and shaken it…

feeling the thick, heavy weight

 of a “dead” arm.

Have you ever felt the moments

 of panic as you imagine

never regaining any feeling

in your sleepy arm? I

f you have…

you may have also felt

the moments of panic

as you realise the return of sensation

will come in the form

of pins and needles…

severe jabs of agonising pain,

shooting through your skin!

Today is the day

for suffering this agony!

It’s Pins and Needles Day.

And yet, today has

nothing to do with pain!

Actually, today’s special day

celebrates a musical,

which opened in 1937.

So, back in 1937,

the International Ladies

Garment Workers Union

met in the Princess Theatre

 in New York City.

The workers formed the cast of

Pins and Needles (P&N).

The orchestral pit was “fully” decked out

 with two pianos!

Rehearsals occurred at night

 and on weekends.

P&N was a pro-union play

 and looked at the

current events of the time.

 While the play started

as a small thing –

the International Ladies

Garment Workers soon quit their jobs

 in order to satisfy the crowds

being drawn in

by the raving reviews.

Every few months,

new songs and skits were incorporated –

 in order to keep the play current.

P&N opened today –

back in 1937

and ran for 1108 performances.

(This whole play business

is not what I was expecting

today to be about!

Happy Pins and Needles Day!)

Dracula!

 

 

Vampire Day

Ok, not Vampire Day…

but, it is the anniversary

of the birthday of Bram Stoker.

I’ll take you back to 1847…

Dublin, Ireland.

Mathilda gave birth to Bram.

(Ok, they called him Abraham.)

Poor Bram was a sickly little kid.

Confined to his room

and barely able to walk,

he spent hours reading books.

By 1864, he was back

 in good health

and headed to college.

He studied maths

and earned many awards for athletics.

 By 1870,

he graduated with honours.

He started a “side job”,

writing reviews

for theatre productions.

In 1878, he took on

the manager’s role

at the Lyceum Theatre in London.

 He performed this role

for 30 years.

In 1886, Bram wrote his first novel.

In 1897, Bram wrote Dracula…

perhaps the first novel

about vampires.

(Ok, there was an earlier one –

but surely Bram

can be called the Vampire King!)

For a long, long time

“Dracula” had little company

among Gothic Horror Vampire books.

 (Though Count Dracula

has lived on Sesame Street

since 1972!

But, did Count Dracula

ever drink blood?)

Now, vampire books are everywhere!

And, with the Cullens,

Bill and Eric becoming such

celebrity vampires,

I’m imagining that Vampire Stories

 are here to stay!

Bram died in London in 1912.

portrait

This is a special day

for yesterday.

Today is

Chaos Never Ends day,

but I’ve celebrated the day

with such gusto

that things have been too chaotic

 for me to post about that!

Rays Unknown

 

 

What IS that?

That was my first thought

on seeing this picture.

A curious imagination

thought aliens must have finally

 been proved to exist!

But, no....

Today is X-Ray Day

More history, by the sounds of that.

 1895.

Germany.

Wilhelm Roentgen

accidentally discovered a “new” ray.

 Not knowing what it was,

he named it “X” ray…

which is the name

we still use today.

After discovering the ray

and figuring he knew

what it would do,

he asked his wife

to be the first person

to be x-rayed.

I guess she was pretty brave!

The world’s first x-ray

was of her hand

and her huge wedding ring.

Imagine a world without x-rays!

 

Confucius Says...

 

Confucius Day

Ahh, the fortune cookie guy!

No. Actually, Confucius was

one of the world’s greatest philosophers.

He was born in 551BC, in China.

He died in 479BC.

Confucius was a teacher,

scholar and politician.

 

 

Thanks to Confucius, the world

now has 449 famous sayings,

to help us get through any situation.

 Confucius says…

if the saying is funny or silly,

Confucius didn’t say it!

What did he say?

“Do not be concerned about others

not appreciating you.

Be concerned about your

not appreciating others.”

(Chapter 1 Verse 16).

 “The gentleman is generous

but not extravagant,

works without complaint,

has desires without being greedy,

is at peace but not arrogant,

and commands respect but not fear.”

(from Chapter 20 Verse 2).

And:

“It does not matter how slowly you go

 so long as you do not stop.”

“To be able under all circumstances

to practice five things

constitutes perfect virtue;

these five things are gravity,

generosity of soul, sincerity,

earnestness and kindness.”

 

 

I hate to admit it, but I found

 some of the sayings to be

 a little out-dated…

and really, this is not too surprising,

 considering they were written

around 550BC!

Other sayings sound very,

 very familiar!

Some believe Confucius was born

into a royal family

of the Chou Dynasty…

others believe he was born

into a life of poverty.

In China, in the 6^th century BC,

 competing Chinese states were

undermining the authority of

 the Chou Empire, which had

 ruled for 500 years.

The country was in a state

of moral decline…

until Confucius stepped in.

He used his golden rule

to show others the way:

“What you do not wish for yourself,

do not do to others.”

Learn more about his biography here

Confucius Says!

Pictures here and here.

(Today is also Coffee Day. Drink up!)