Famous First Words: There's a bright golden haze on the meadow... Rodgers and Hammerstein O, What a Beautiful Morning from Oklahoma
Happy Hug a Medievalist Day! Authur''s round table had a spy named Sir Veillance. / Did you know that medieval letter carriers wore chain mail.
..........We reveal the things hidden.........composer unknown ….. Attende Domine (A Gregorian Chant, 900s)
March 31, 1991: Before dawn on Easter, five Plowshares activists boarded the USS Gettysburg, an Aegis-equipped Cruiser docked at the Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. They proceeded to hammer and pour blood on covers of vertical launching systems for cruise missiles.
It is a windy (19 mph) Friday morning. The now risen sun is chasing the thick cloud cover northward at great speed and the 67°F manages to feel muggy even in March. Majestic cloud banks are heaped in the sky and are constantly changing shape in the wind. All tree branches – the ones with buds bursting out and the still bare branches – are dancing a spring hula. Earth is greening up and clusters of flower colors are scattered across it. Birdsong is busy...tote that twig, build that nest...and they flutter about the yard looking focused and determined. The air smells of spring, of dampness, of new growth, of flowers. I have returned from the doctor's office – regular check-up. ~~good news, I'm still alive. But my coffee is finally ready and I'm going to go doctor-up a cup before I continue. What a lovely day.
Hope the weekend finds you, healthy as a trout, ePistliers
First Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: I am going to be a philosopher. By the time I grow up, robots will be doing everything else. --Submitted by Philosophy Matters
Last Minute Funniest Things I Read of the Week: Congrats to Donald Trump on Finally Winning a Majority of Votes. --New Republic / Orange Is the New Inmate / That J in Donald J Trump now stands for Jail --Jimmy Kimmel
The townies called the Vikings Rain because they kept storming the city. / I read a rumor that King Arthur had a young man who helped him with his armor and his horse's armor. But the boy, whose name is unknown, got lost on a hunting trip up north. I googled “lost medieval servant boy” but the result was “Page cannot be found”.
..........Peacocks wandered aimlessly..........Crosby, Stills & Nash …..Guinevere
Trivia Questions: Wow, Daylight Saving Time in the US is 105 years old
- ^ Which government department was in charge of Time Zones originally?
- ^^ What reason was given for establishing Daylight Savings Time?
- ^^^ What government agency took over Time Zones after WWI?
- ^^^^ What states DON'T follow daylight savings time?
- ^^^^^ How effective has DST been in saving energy?
Big Hello: MeHДbt (Mendvt) – Kalmyk (Mongolia, China, Russia) https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hello.htm
Second Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: So will schoolboys in Florida be blindfolded to go to the bathroom? --Submitted by sm of k ~~I have to admit that I have enjoyed the jokes...Michelangelo's David in a cute red frock with a plunging neckline and God giving Adam tighty-whities on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Image of the Week: This is a fake picture of Trump running away from the police. ~~This is one of a series. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fake-ai-images-of-putin-trump-being-arrested-spread-online
Fake Library Statistics of the Week: At any given moment 62% of librarians are wearing library themed clothing they received over the holidays. https://www.facebook.com/FakeLibStats/?fref=ts
The Knight who collected taxes for King Arthur was named Sir Charge. / The ten-year-old peasant boy approached the village priest and complained of melancholy and debilitating sadness. The priest comforted him pointing out it was just a midlife crisis.
..........Qual io mi sia, per la mia lingua s' oda...........Philippe Verdelot …..Italia Mia Bench' el parlar (A Madrigal, 1500s)
Moonbeam: A state is better governed which has few laws, and those laws strictly observed. --Rene Descartes
Meditation of the Week: What is the mark of truth? Rene Descartes
Puzzle of the Week: Name two well-known commercial products in five letters whose names are anagrams of each other. One product is something you'd probably see in your bathroom. The second is more likely to be in your refrigerator. What products are these? --NPR Sunday Puzzle 3/26/23
Next Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: There is a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom pothole on Williams Way if anyone is looking.
This is an actual medieval joke from 14th century Florence: A Florentine had in his home a young man who instructed his children in the elements of knowledge. After a long stay, the young tutor felt so much at home that he had in turn the housemaid, the nurse, and finally the mistress herself. When the master of the house, who was a jovial fellow discovered this, he summoned the young man to his private chamber and said: "I find it unmannerly of you, sir, that in taking your pleasure of my entire household you have made an exception of me."
..........What merriment is the king pursuing tonight..........Richard Harris …..Wonder What the King Is Doing Tonight
^ The government didn’t institute time zones until 1918, with the passage of the Standard Time Act of 1918. At that time, the Interstate Commerce Commission, which regulated railroads at the time, was put in charge of time zones.
Almanac: It is Friday, March 31, 2023. The moon went into the first quarter on Wednesday (3/28) and is in Leo. It is Bunsen Burner Day, Cesar Chavez Day, International Hug A Medievalist Day, International Transgender Day of Visibility, National Prom Day, and National "She's Funny That Way" Day.
Among those born on this day were Rene Descartes (1596), Andrew Marvell (1621), Joseph Haydn (1732), Edward FitzGerald & Nikolai Gogol (1809), John LaFarge (1835), Karl Bonhoeffer (1868), Arthur Griffith (1872), Arthur Godfrey (1903), Henry Morgan (1915), Leo Buscaglia (1924), John Fowles (1926), Cesar Chavez (1927), Liz Clayborne (1929), Shirley Jones (1933), Richard Chamberlain (1935), Marge Piercy (1936), John Jakes (1938), Barney Frank (1940), Christopher Walken (1943), Gabe Kaplan (1946), Cesar Trujillo (1947), Al Gore, Jr. (1948), Rhea Perlman (1948), and Ewan McGregor (1971).
On March thirty Ceasefire signed by France & Spain (1504), Goethe's "Egmont" premiered (1796), Quebec & Montreal were incorporated (1831), Wabash, IN became the first town lit entirely by electricity (1880), daylight saving was first used in the US (1918), Ford unveiled the V-8 engine (1932), the Civilian Conservation Corps were formed (1933), Oklahoma opened on Broadway (1943), Glass Menagerie premiered (1945), Jimi Hendrix burned his first guitar (1967), and Trump purchased Eastern Northeast Shuttle (1989).
Night Sky, 3/31: There comes a time in late evening now when Arcturus, the bright Spring Star climbing in the east, stands just as high as Sirius, the brighter Winter Star descending in the southwest (for sky-watchers at mid-northern latitudes). Their heights will balance sometime around 10 or 11 pm daylight-saving time, depending on both your latitude and longitude. These are the two brightest stars in the sky at the time. But Capella is a very close runner-up to Arcturus! Spot it high in the northwest. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/
Fraternal Picture of the Week: You don't find a style. A style finds you. --Keith Richards
Extra Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun – is a congressman with a Spine. --Submitted by gr of oh
This Week: Saturday, April 1 – All Fools Day aka April Fools Day & International Pillow Fight Day
Sunday, April 2 – Dictionary Day & National Ferret Day & Palm Sunday & Reconciliation Day
Night Sky, 4/2: The Moon forms another nearly isosceles triangle with Regulus and Algieba, but now it's lower left and farther away from them. The huge, bright Winter Hexagon is still in view early after dark, filling the sky to the southwest and west. It's the sky's biggest widely-recognized asterism.
Monday, April 3 – Don't Go To Work Unless It's Fun Day & Fan Dance Day & Weed Out Hate Day
Tuesday, April 4 – Vitamin D Day & World Rat Day
Wednesday, April 5 – Christine's Birthday (4/5/44) & Go For Broke Day & Passover begins
Night Sky, 4/5: Mercury and Jupiter are very low in the glow of sunset. Look due west about a half hour after sunset, far to the lower right of Venus. Binoculars will help. Jupiter is magnitude –2.0 and Mercury is not far behind: magnitude –1.5 on Friday March 24th, fading to –1.1 over the next seven days.
Thursday, April 6 – Charlie the Tuna Day & Tartan Day & National Fun At Work Day
In medieval times, people used to attach a lamp to a horse when riding at night. They called it saddle light navigation. / Young Lucian was so full of confidence they named him Sir Tin.
..........Thirty pieces of silver, our supper to buy.........Unknown …..Judas (A Childe Ballad/ 1200s)
^^ In 1918, the agency started the first instance of daylight saving time in the US to help conserve fuel and power during World War I.
Preantepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Cartoonist Supply Store: No, for some reason we're all out of Jailbird Orange. Sorry.
Moonbeam: The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries. --Rene Descartes
Video of the Week: Jimi Hendrix destroying his guitar: https://www.historyvshollywood.com/video/jimi-hendrix-guitar-burning/
Not So Late Night Snacks of the Week: French protest is so classy. You should taste their Molotov Beaujolais. --Peter Sagal Wait Wait Don't Tell Me 3/26/23
March 31, 1985: Throughout Australia, 300,000 demonstrated in peace and anti-nuclear rallies.
The tournament knight who was caught doping replied, “I was just getting my lance arm strong.” / Lady Guinevere had a cousin who excelled at busting ghosts. Eventually she opened a restaurant off the palace courtyard. It was decorated with items from her many conquests. She called it Wight Castle.
..........I will be your knight in shining armor.........Rolling Stones …..Emotional Rescue
^^^ The 1966 founding of the Transportation Department led to the current version of daylight saving time. The dates for when the US springs forward (the second Sunday of March) into daylight saving time or falls back (the first Sunday of November) to standard time are enshrined in federal law and were most recently changed in 2005.
Weird Word of the Week: Zoilism – slovenly and unhygienic. If I were to do more than hint at their hydrophobic habits, their pulicidal, piscivorous, and even phtheirophagous propensities, I should call down, not undeservedly, the Zoilism of our correspondents. --1863 http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-zoi1.htm
Antepenultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: We can't say “look on the bright side” anymore. Because it's offensive to vampires and people with hangovers. --Submitted by bc of tx
Dragon of the Week: Northumberland Bestiary c. 1250-60 CE
wackyuses.com/wacky/bounce.html
I like my wine like I like my medieval cities – fortified. / What caused the Dark Ages anyway? Smog?
...........Nuair is crua don chailleach, caithfidh sí rith..........Unknown …..Dinnseanchas (the oldest known Irish ballad) ~~When the old woman is hard pressed she must run.
^^^^ Arizona and Hawaii have exempted themselves from the time change. 11 states have passed laws to observe permanent daylight saving time: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Maine, Delaware, South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, and Louisiana.
Penultimate Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Wishing good luck to all those micro-breweries that are just finishing their Easter Hippity Hops beer.
Science Fiction Convention of the Week: WhimsyCon (3/31-4/2, Denver, CO) Steampunk and Costuming Convention https://www.whimsycon.org/
Actual Science Conference of the Week: Isothermal Expo (3/31-4/1, Columbus, NC) 40 interactive exhibits covering every aspect of science and technology... https://www.isothermal.edu/expo/
Answer to Puzzle of the Week: Nivea and Évian
Sir Adipose's horse was unruly and stubborn. He was a real knightmare. / I'm in a Medieval-themed metal band called Bards of Prey.
..........And he won the heart of a lady.........Leo MaGuire …..Whistling Gypsy Rover
^^^^^ In 1974, a Transportation Department daylight saving time study found no conclusive difference in energy usage, crime, travel times, or trade during the time shift. In 2008, an Energy Department study showed energy consumption dropped 0.02% due to daylight saving time. The study also showed no “measurable impact” on vehicle gas consumption. An academic study cited in a Congressional Research Service report found evidence of some increase in heart attacks during transitions to or out of daylight saving time.
My Own Writing of the Week: Stringman and I were an item for several years. Even before we became an item, he taught me about the "golly gee whiz" phenomenon in science fiction. He took me to my first science fiction convention (BYOB 5, KCMO, 1975). He wasn't a writer but he was a voracious reader. He was my comfort and my entertainment. He remained a friend through everything, even moving on; he remains a friend to this day.
I met him when he was a graduate student. He had been a philosophy undergraduate and he introduced me to Husserl and phenomenology and other pre-post-modernist philosophies. He ended up in science as an electron microscope tech.
He became a mushroom hunter and joined with other fungus-heads and finally, wrote a book on identifying mushrooms in the area. I went on forays from time to time but lacked the essential drive to find the next wonder smut. I do have a much clearer picture of the diversity of the species and appreciate the beauty and flavor that is out there. I did not find an answer to the question: why do we have no problem going to a grocery store and buying mushrooms grown and harvested by total strangers but we are suspicious of any mushroom given to us by a dear friend?
We played games, board games, card games, and pen and pencil games. Once a friend gave him two decks of cards that were stamped onto tiles - like dominoes. We made up games to play with them. He was also a master of string figures and taught adults and children alike to make them. He read anthropology journals to find descriptions of string figures displayed by tribes and peoples in obscure places and times. He and a friend did a stand up 'comedy' routine...with string. Every couple of years, I get out my string - it hangs near my computer - to remember a few of the old tricks, 2 diamonds, 3 diamonds, 4 diamonds aka Jacob's Ladder. My favorite is still lightning. 1,000 diamonds was the standard trick still to be learned.
But we played no strange and exciting bedroom games. I remember his hesitant, often vulnerable and self-conscious body warm near mine. I remember listening to his heart beat. And mostly I remember his nearly noiseless acceptance of favors. My most intimate memory was of head gone wrong and I will speak no more of it.
We ran in a crowd that all learned to smoke dope about the same time. Come to think of it, we as a group of 5 or 6 played a lot of weed games when we first began. The Maestro and my first husband were also part of the group. The conversation was always engaging and intelligent and sometimes trippy.
When Stringman was relighting a roach on a clip, he would stand and look in the mirror on his wall to avoid setting fire to his mustache. He and I put together our very first dope co-op. We pooled money from 4 or 5 people and bought a pound plus of locally grown weed. I remember it heaped on an open newspaper in the middle of the floor. We sat cross legged beside it and laughed straight for at least five minutes. Gosh, he was fun.
His delicious memory is also due in no small part to his magnificent homemade bread.
He put up with so much, bless his heart. After we moved on, I wrote a long, mournful poem about the affair. But he really changed my life in big ways. I write to him after every convention and thank him for taking me to my first.
The Philosopher From: Always Surrender by Christine Smith
Final Funniest Thing I Read of the Week: Today I am multi-slacking.
Today's Peace of History: March 31, 1968: President Lyndon Johnson announced he would not seek re-election, ordered a partial bombing halt in Vietnam, and appointed W. Averell Harriman to seek peace negotiations with North Vietnam.
There is an unpublished story from Canterbury tales; it's about a flying Chaucer. / When the Borg landed in the Medieval town of Krazville, it assimilated everyone while broadcasting: Resistance Is Feudal.
..........Sumer Is Icumen In..........Unknown …..Sumer Is Icumen In (England, mid 1200s)
Masthead of the Week: Friday ePistle March 31, 2023, Ye Olde ePistle. Online at: http://fridayepistle.blogspot.com/ Exclusive editor: Christine Smith, Lawrence, KS
Moonbeam: Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it. --Rene Descartes
Cost of War:
- As of 03/30/23 State Department War Costs since 2001: $203,336,658,942.
- As of 03/23/23 State Department War Costs since 2001: $202,784,849,670.
- As of 03/30/23 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,127,043,851,367.
- As of 03/23/23 Interest on War Debt since 2001: $1,125,502,653,762.
- As of 03/30/23 Homeland Security since 2001: $1,132,572,648,633.
- As of 03/23/23 Homeland Security since 2001: $1,131,973,300,416.
- As of 03/30/23 Veterans Care since 2001: $2,968,543,686,817.
- As of 03/23/23 Veterans Care since 2001: $2,956,861,298,849.
- As of 03/30/23 Military Costs since 2001: $3,015,403,872,934.
- As of 03/23/23 Military Costs since 2001: $3,014,233,747,776.
- As of 03/30/23 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $8,446,902,573,015.
- As of 03/23/23 Total Cost of Wars since 2001: $8,431,358,256,147.
https://www.nationalpriorities.org/cost-of/
March 31, 1888: The National Council of Women of the U.S. was organized by Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, Julia Ward Howe, and Sojourner Truth, among others. It is the oldest non-sectarian women’s organization in the country.
Famous Last Words: ...and so good-bye. --Tennessee Williams Glass Menagerie
..........the folk not noblessly obliged.........Vanessa Redgrave …..What Do The Simple Folk Do
There was a medieval castle set aside just for stoners. It was called Fort Wenty. / There were lots of vegetarians in Medieval times. More often than not, they were called “peasants”.
May Peace keep your castle
And Joy keep your keep
prairie mama
christine
Last Laugh:
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