Groundhog Day 2021

Groundhog Day is an annual holiday celebrated on February 2nd in the United States and Canada. A groundhog (Marmota monax) is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels.

According to folklore, if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day fails to see its shadow, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If on the other hand, the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks. 

The holiday, which began as a Pennsylvania German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries, has its origins in ancient European weather folklore, wherein a badger or sacred bearis the prognosticator as opposed to a groundhog.

The School Day of Non-Violence and Peace 2021

The School Day of Non-Violence and Peace is an observance founded by the Spanish poet Llorenc Vidal in Majorca in 1964 as a starting point and support for a pacifying and non-violent education of a permanent character.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Martin Luther King Jr. Anniversary - 2021

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15th 1929. Following in his father's and grandfather's footsteps, he was ordained as a minister in 1948. Dr. King became one of the most important leaders of the civil rights movement in the U.S., advocating a nonviolent approach to fighting for equal rights. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968.

Listen to his famous speech I have a dream or read it:

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history asthe greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.Five score years ago, a great... (click to read the full transcript)

If you want to know more:

Wikipedia article on M. Luther King

No copyright infringement intended. For educational purposes only

Welcome Back! 2021

Yeah, we know, the X-mas holiday is over, but follow the advice of Monty Python from The life of Brian and always look on the bright side of life,:

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

The 3 Wise Men Didn't Have a GPS 2021

There is no historical evidence, but we can be quite sure that the 3 Magi did not use a GPS to find the stable in Bethlehem...

Life of Brian

Scene 2: Three Wise Men with Bad Senses of Direction

The sketch:

holy music

BABY BRIAN COHEN: crying
WISE MAN #1: Ahem.
MANDY COHEN: Ohhh!
whump
Who are you?
WISE MAN #1: We are three wise men.

Aspas: Simply the Best

Iago Aspas has been La Liga's best player, and best ambassador, this season

(by Sid Lowe, reblogged from ESPN)

You might not have heard about this, but Iago Aspas took a bad corner once, six-and-a-half years ago. He is top scorer in La Liga: corner. He has been directly involved in more goals and earned more points than anyone else in Spain: corner. In the past five years, he has scored more goals than any Spaniard, anywhere. More assists, too. Corner. Celta de Vigo have never, ever had a better player. Corner, though.

In that time, no one -- apart from Lionel Messi, that one-man footballing category, an outlier lying so far out he's off the graph -- has done what Aspas has done. Yeah, but no one has done a corner like him either.

He has just scored again, right now, as this is being written. Look it's there on the screen, the ball in the net at the Coliseum, where players like him are usually eaten for breakfast. Ah, but it's on this screen too. YouTube.com: Aspas corner.

You get the picture, and look, maybe it shouldn't matter. Maybe no one should go on about it anymore, still less write things like this anymore. And surely everyone knows that Aspas is actually good by now. Especially if they have been reading these pages, which you would like to think they have. Maybe it's not a thing.

Only ... it is a thing. And people do go on about it.

Three Wise Men 2021

In Christian tradition the Magi (pronounced /ˈmeɪdʒaɪ/; from the Greek: μάγοι, magoi, usually translated as "wise men", although it probably meant "astronomer" or "astrologer"... that is why they were following a star), also referred to as the (Three) Wise Men, (Three) Kings, or Kings from the East, are said to have visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts.Traditions identify a variety of different names for the Magi. In the Western Christian church they have been commonly known since the 8th century as Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. In the Gospel of Matthew, the only one to describe the visit of the Magi, it states that they came "from the east" to worship the Christ, "born King of the Jews". Although Matthew does not mention their number, because three gifts are recorded as having been given to the Christ Child, traditionally there are thought to have been three Magi. The Magi, as the "Three Kings" or "Three Wise Men" are regular figures in traditional accounts of the nativity and in celebrations of Christmas.

New Year Resolutions 2021

A New Year's resolution is a commitment an individual makes to a project or the reforming of a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. The name comes from the fact that these commitments normally go into effect on New Year’s Day and remain until fulfilled or abandoned.

Labor students: Are you making any New Year's Resolutions for 2014? Maybe working harder at school? Spending less time on Tuenti? Leave your comments and tell everybody what your resolutions for the New Year are!

New Year's Day 2021

"New Year's Day" is a song by rock band U2. It is on their 1983 album War and it was released as the album's lead single in January 1983. Written about the Polish Solidarity movement, "New Year's Day" is driven by Adam Clayton's distinctive bassline and The Edge's keyboard playing. It was the band's first UK hit single, peaking at #10 on the singles chart, #11 on the Dutch Top 40 and charting on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in their career. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine placed the single at #427 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".