Holidays in April

1 April Fools’ Day
6 Tartan Day
7 World Health Day
8 Buddha Day/ Hana Matsuri
15 Tax Day
19 Passover starts
Lazarus Saturday
20 4:20
22 Earth Day
23 Administrative pros Day
25 Arbor Day
Orthodox Holy Friday
27 Orthodox Easter
30 International Guide Dog Day

Book Count: March

Number of books read: 5
Pages read: 1572
Average number of days to read a book: 6
Average number of pages read in a day: 51
Number of more books to read to reach goal: 77

Happy April Fool's Day!

Happy Easter!!!!

A Book in Review – The Dangerous Book for Boys

Book Count: 23

The Dangerous Book for Boys By: Hal & Conn Iggulden
Non-fiction: sports, adventure, history, science, etc. 267 pages, 4th grade reading level, 2007

This is the type of book you would get for a 9-12 year old boy who you don’t really know much about. It has a lot of information on a lot of different topics but nothing really in-depth on anything. It says it’s “dangerous” but the most dangerous thing about it is its lack of information. For example, on the first aid part its information on CPR would only be slightly useful for someone that already knows CPR, and it goes on about how the King James Version of the bible is the greatest ever because it is sooo poetic and for an example gives the wording of the Ten Commandments in it. First, that isn’t even a very poetic part of the Bible. Second, people read the Bible mostly for spiritual reasons and there forth should care about things like accuracy and understandability two things that the King James Bible scores low on. After reading this book, I don’t understand why it was such a popular book. It is unlike most books for boys that had been written for some time. But it also was billed as a book to get kids outside doing things and teaching them classical knowledge, but includes a section on why you should play Dungeons and Dragons or a similar game.

Gas Tax

We just found out that a Mich. Congressperson is trying to pass a bill that would cause a $.50 tax added to already high gas prices. The congressperson is Rep. John Dingell from Michigan’s 15th district, which is located mostly in the south east corner of Michigan. As we are in the state as are a number of our readers it is possible that he is your representative and if so we just thought you might like to tell him what you think of the idea. So far, as far as we can tell, it is not officially a bill yet and so there is no bill number that you could write other congresspersons about saying your thoughts on the bill, but one can always write your person about the subject in general.

To read about the proposed tax click here.
To contact your congressperson click here.

You will need your zip code and the 4-digit zip code extension as well as to answer a simple question used to stop spam mail. (You can find the extension by looking on your incoming bills that often include it.)

A Book in Review – Her Majesty’s Spymaster

Book Count: 22

Her Majesty’s Spymaster, By: Stephen Budiansky
Non-Fiction: history 222 pages 2005

This book on espionage during the life of Queen Elizabeth I reads more like a story then a non-fiction book. But it still provides interesting information on early spying methods and life during this time, both for commoners and the court. Over all a fun read.

Slow Going

If you have been paying attention to the book count reasontly you may have noticed that it is not getting much higher. This month is just not making it easy to read. But, that has not stopped us completely! And now you have the fun of seeing if we can ketch up in the following months. Also, if you have any ideas on book we may like to read, let us know. Part of the problem has been just finding books that look interesting knowing that we are aiming at reading them in 3-5 days.

Quotes on/by the Irish:

-Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy. – William Butler Yeats

-The English are not happy unless they are miserable, the Irish are not at peace unless they are at war, and the Scots are not at home unless they are abroad – George Orwell

-If this humor be the safety of our race, then it is due largely to the infusion into the American people of the Irish brain. – William Howard Taft

-The Irish gave the bagpipes to the Scotts as a joke, but the Scotts haven't seen the joke yet. – Oliver Herford

-Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat. – Alex Levin

-Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you fight with your neighbor. It makes you shoot at your landlord and it makes you miss him. – Irish Proverb

-Here's to our wives and girlfriends: May they never meet! – Irish Drinking Toast

Happy St. Patrick’s Day (Observed)

Yes, St. Patrick’s Day is not really until Monday (March 17th), but due to the incredibly early Easter this year it lands during Holy Week (that week between Palm Sunday and Easter). And so its celebration is moved to not interfere with Holy Week activities. (There is a course a hierarchy for this, and Holy Week beats St. Patrick’s Day just like St. Patrick’s Day beats Lent; which is why when it lands on a Friday it overrides not eating meat. And besides, in America it’s always nice when it’s during the weekend as you can party more.) So we are writing on it both days. Enjoy!

Some Facts on St. Patrick

- St. Patrick wasn’t Irish and 1st came to Ireland as a slave.
- St. Patrick was from a Roman family living in Britain, possibly in an area now part of Scotland.
- He wasn’t the 1st person who was sent out as a missionary to Ireland, but the 1st guy quit.
- The 1st church in Ireland started out as a barn and was a gift to St. Patrick from a chieftain.
- St. Patrick spent much time in prayer and is said to have had visions of angels including one and which it is said that he was told that he would be allowed to judge the Irish race on Judgment Day and the seven years before that the sea would wipe out Ireland saving its people from the Antichrist.
- St. Patrick is thought to have died on March 17th 493.

Happy Pi Day

As you may know today is Pi Day, a day dedicated to math and pastries. If not, HERE is a short but informative piece we wrote on it last year. Enjoy your pie!

And remember tomorrow is the Ides of March :( , but also St. Patrick’s Day observed :) ! So, if wear a little green you shouldn’t have to worry about the senate murdering you.

It’s Later

We promised you earlier that we would tell you later why this year Easter is on the second earliest day it can be. First, as you may know Easter is a holiday that is connected with the holiday Passover, which is set using the Jewish calendar. This is a calendar that is a lunisolar calendar i.e. one that uses the moon and the sun unlike the Gregorian calendar that we use for day to day things that is only based on the sun. Because of this the date of Passover “moves” on our calendar. Now because of that the date of Easter moves; however, as Easter was decided to always be celebrated on a Sunday, and by the time the method for deciding the date was set up Christians were no longer a group within Judaism it wasn’t just set up to be during Passover. (Which, would make everything easier, but it’s not likely to be changed now.) So a different way of setting the day for Easter was used. Which evolved until the Middle Ages into what we use now. That is Easter is on Sunday. And after the first full moon that takes place on or after the ecclesiastical vernal equinox. (With the ecclesiastical vernal equinox being set as the 21st of March, unlike the real one that moves back and forth between the 20th and 21st.) So the earliest Easter can be is March 22nd. Also, due to the Eastern Church using the Julian calendar their dates are sometimes different. For example this year their Easter is April 27th. So, that is why Easter is so early this year.

A Note to Self: The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody

Book Count: 21

The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody: Great Figures of History Hilariously Humbled By: Will Cuppy
Non-fiction, history 230 pages 1950

This book is not hilarious, it is more on the life of people of various degrees of fame then their down falls. It is not a book I would recommend as it’s just not all that great.

A Book in Review – The Bad Catholic’s Guide to Wine, Whiskey & Song

Book Count: 20

The Bad Catholic’s Guide to Wine, Whiskey & Song: A Spirited Look at Catholic Life & Lore from Apocalypse to Zinfandel By: Zmirak & Matychowiak
Non-Fiction: Theology, Food & Drink, Music, History etc. 401 pages 2007

First, who wouldn’t be intrigued by a book with cover art of the Pope with a pilsner? (Ok, he was only a cardinal when the picture was taken and it’s a lager [besides pilsner] in a pilsner style glass, but that just messes with the sound of saying it.) Add to that that it is indorsed by Catholic theologians, famous chiefs and a rabbi and not only do you have a great set up for a “walked into a bar” joke but a book were had to read. And once we saw the dedication on the book, we knew that we would enjoy it. (So few books thank Weird Al for his inspiration and enlightenment of the authors.)
As you can now tell, we loved the book. It was full of fun information on drinks, foods, drinking songs, religious history, pop culture and dozens of other things. It was such a complex book, it actually took us the whole time we were on vacation, sitting most every day in a ski lodge doing nothing but reading to get threw it. We had to keep stopping to reread some funny or deep bit. (Some that were both; we can now never think about Deism without thinking about Homer Simpson “working” at the nuclear power plant.) Each main entry was about both a drinking related subject and a religious one. Often these were put together in a most interesting and thought provoking way. Some were just funny. For example, “Grapes, God, and the Vines of Sodom” is about how wine is shown in the Bible, in both the positive and negative, which ends with the authors’ believe that the evil wine made from the vines of Sodom (Deuteronomy 32:32) was white Zinfandel. They also have sections spaced threw out the book entitled, “ Loopholes in the Ten Commandments” where they break down what the commandments are really saying to do or not do, and “loopholes” in them. For example in the one on the 8th commandment (Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness Against Thy Neighbor, and we know you may have it listed as a different number as Jews and Protestants number them differently, but still you get the idea.) Anyway it is the one on lying, they point out that according to St. Thomas Aquinas if your wife asks you if she looks fat in something, you can tell her no even if she looks like a bus in it as you are obviously joking. However, according to St. Augustine if you were hiding an innocent man in your house and a band of murders knocked on the door asking where he was, you couldn’t lie to them, but you could kill them. (Note: saying St. Augustine told me to do it will not work in court, unless you are going for an insanity plead. Also, although officially the wording is still being worked on, modern theologians tend to agree that saving a life trumps the sinfulness of lying. ) There was only one thing that we disliked about this book. Althought, it is clear that the authors are Orthodox Catholics, (I.e. they actually believe all the teachings of the religion and not only the ones they like or inversely think that Vatican II was from the devil and the “real” Pope is some guy living in his parents’ basement learning Latin.) They go on about how crappy church services have been since Vatican II, and as some one that is under 50, I don’t really care having never known different or had to live threw the time when people were trying all sorts of crazy stuff because that’s what they thought the council meant. But even then there was some interesting information. For example, when talking about how much church music today stinks they point out the humor of the song “Hosea”, which is loosely based on the story of the Old Testament prophet who was told be God to marry a Prostitute. And includes the phrase “Long have I waited for your coming. . .” Which no song about a prostitute sung in church should include. And now:
I must not laugh when ever I hear that song.
I must not laugh when ever I hear that song.
I must not laugh when ever I hear that song.
I must not laugh when ever I hear that song.

A Book in Review – The Book of the Dead

Book Count: 19

The Book of the Dead By: Preston and Child
Fiction: mystery, adventure, fantasy 452 pages 2006

First, after reading the whole book at the end there is a section on the authors’ books and what order to read them in. It is only there that it points out that this book is the third in a trilogy and one should at least read the book before in order to understand this book. I didn’t have a problem during reading it having not read the book before, as like many books it was clear that these characters appeared in other books and had back stories that one would have read about in earlier books, but didn’t need to in order to understand the current story. That being said the book also has about a dozen major characters and already knowing them would make it a bit easier to read.
The stories themselves were quite interesting and centered around a family where one brother was an evil genius and the other was a F.B.I. agent. The main story is also about an ancient Egyptian tomb display in a museum, which is cursed. And includes strange otherworldly happenings and murder.

Holidays in March

1 St. David’s Day
3 Hina Matsuri
Read Across America Day
6 Maha Shivaratri
7 Employee Appreciation Day
World Day of Prayer
8 International Women’s Day
9 Daylight Savings Time
10 Harriet Tubman Day
12 Alfred Hitchcock Day
13 Uranus Day
14 Pi Day
Genius Day
15 Ides of March
St. Patrick’s Day (observed)
16 Palm Sunday
St. Urho’s Day
17 St. Patrick’s Day
19 St. Joseph’s Day
20 Purim starts
Holy Thursday
Spring Equinox
Mawlid al-Nabi
21 Good Friday
Nowruz
Baha’I New Year
Single Parents Day
22 Holi
23 Easter Sunday
24 Houdini Day
31 Bunsen Burner Day

Book Count: February

Number of books read: 7
Pages read: 4470
Average number of days to read a book: 4
Average number of pages read in a day: 154
Number of more books to read to reach goal: 82

One More Day

We at WNBNI would just like to remind you that this year is a leap year and so there is still one more day of February. Enjoy your day of extra time until the rent is due, African American history month, and/or freezing February weather.

Note on Numbers:

It appears that one can not always set the number of hits to the web site on computers other then our own. After testing this out on a computer not connected with our own in any way it appears the if you can not see the meter at the bottom of the page, clicking in the lower left-hand corner will bring up the website that keeps track of the number and you can then see how many others are reading this and where they are from. (Along with tons of other info, you most likely don’t care about.)

The Big 2000!!!

As we were doing our daily viewing of websites, blogs, e-mail, etc we looked down to see the numbers on our own beloved W.N.B.N.I., and what did we see. People have looked at our blog 1,999 times!!!!! That means by the time you read this there will be 2000 hits on our blog!! Go ahead, scroll down and look for yourself. You may even be number 2000. Wouldn’t that make you cool and important? Sure it would, why not? We think you’re important. Thank you to all our readers for your reading, keep up the good work!

A Book in Review – TCIGT: Writing Christian Fiction

Book Count: 18

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to: Writing Christian Fiction, By: Ron Benrey
Non-Fiction: Writing, publishing, religion 294 pages 2007

Although, this book states at the beginning that it is only meant to be a guild for the ways that writing Christian fiction is different then writing secular fiction or other forms of writing, it does have a lot of information that would be useful for people writing any novel. There are sections on outlining stories, making time for writing, and the different paths to getting your book published. All these parts provide useful information for any writer. So, even though we have no desire to write in this genre at this time, it still was full of helpful writing tips. And it made us glad that we don’t have to follow all of the sometimes odd rules that Christian publishers have. (Now we think we will write about a woman at a bar who dances across the room in order to get to the bathroom in celebration that we can write about drinking, dancing, and the fact that people use the bathroom and our readers don’t find it horribly offensive. [Not that most people reading Christian fiction would either, but those who do tend to complaint loudly.])

A Note to Self:

Book Count: 17

The Fine Art of Murder, Edited by: Gormen et al
Non-Fiction: essay, writing, history etc. 381 pages 1993

If you read my last note to self then you may remember that this is the book that was taking forever to read. That is due to two reasons. First, the pages are larger then most books. Second, it is a collection of essays, interviews, and other short writings on anything and everything having to do with the writing of mystery novels. So, you need to that a short break now and then as the writing jumps from one area to another. But, I have finally finished it!!! I’ve only been working on it since the middle of January. And it was worth reading, as there was a lot of useful information in it.

Quotes From Lincoln

-Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it.

-As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.

-Whenever I hear any one arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.

-I leave you, hoping that the lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms until there shall no longer be a doubt that all men are created free and equal.

-It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him.

-Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.

-Stand with anybody that stands RIGHT. Stand with him while he is right and PART with him when he goes wrong.

-When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion.

-I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.

-Common looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them.

-If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?

-Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

-Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.

Today in Holidays

Today is Presidents’ Day, or George Washington’s Birthday or Washington’s and Lincoln’s Birthday depending on where you live or who you ask. It is some complicated thing based on states and national holidays overlapping. But in any case, don’t hold your breath waiting for the mail, it’s not coming today.

Quotes From George Washington

* Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!

* The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered... deeply, ...finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.

* Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.

* There is no restraining men's tongues or pens when charged with a little vanity.

* It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.

* Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow grow, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.

* I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.

* It is well, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go.

More Weird Things Our Cat Does

Our cat LOVES library books!!! And we don’t mean in the way most cats love books. I.E. they must sit on top of whatever you are reading until getting the proper amount of attention. No, we mean the cat is always smelling our library books. Not in the way that cats and dogs like to smell things because they use their noses more then their eyes to learn about the world around them. No, one would think that the library packs the books in catnip or some other sort of kitty crack the way he is deeply inhaling every volume, pushing the book open with his nose, sniffing up and down every page. It’s just odd. At times we are afraid that the cat will try to eat the book, or rip its pages the way that they go after it. It is something you have to see to really understand as we just can’t fully explain it as it is like nothing we have ever seen or heard about before.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Attention Men: Panic

This is just a note to remind all the men reading this who have a loved one in their lives that tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. All the nice restaurants are already booked. Roses will cost $50 a dozen. The stores are out of all the good boxes of chocolates. Now is the time to think up something good and fast. That is all. Enjoy your day.

A Note To Self:

Book Count: 16

Murder of a Sweet Old Lady by: Denise Swanson
Fiction: mystery 251 pages 2001

I liked this book, but as I just reviewed a mystery I thought I would just note this for the count. I’m in a bit of a mystery kick now, as I am also reading a book on mystery writing, although it is taking forever to get threw it as the pages are huge!

A Book in Review – Turkey Flambé

Book Count: 15

Turkey Flambé by: Nancy Fairbanks
Fiction: mystery, cooking 274 pages 2007

This is a mystery that centers on cooking. There are various recipes in the book that relate to what the people in the book are eating. The storyline is also food based. The mystery starts when a new cook book author has an event for her first book in which she was asked to flambé her famous turkey recipe. Instead of creating the nice effect of a small sized blue flame coming from the turkey for a minute or two the turkeys become giant flaming fire spitting turkeys that are thrown off the balcony in the hopes of stopping the flames and not burning down the building. They are then mistaken as bombs thrown by terrorist as they hit two cars; one of Middle Eastern diplomats and one of the granddaughter of a very powerful man in Chinatown. The police and feds are called in and want to charge the author with multiple crimes for making the bombs (she wasn’t the one who threw them) and so she must prove that she is innocent by finding out who messed with her turkeys. It is a fun book with lots of twists and turns but plenty of hints to make you feel that you can solve the mystery before she does.

A Book in Review – A Book of Curious Advice

Book Count: 14

A Book of Curious Advice: Most Unusual Manners, Morals, Medicine: From Days of Yore Edited by: Ruth Pepper Summers
Non-Fiction: History, advice, medicine, etiquette 201 pages 2004

It is amazing the number of ways that people in the past seam to be trying to kill themselves. If you like wondering how humans have lasted this long, then this is a book for you. It includes great advice from the past few centuries with many notes on how this is deadly bad advice that one should never take. There is advice on things like giving opium to babies, smoking to cure asthma, and the dangers of eating vegetables, drinking cold water or bathing. It also has recipes for things like crows, robins and pig’s ears. And my favorite advice in this book, which is giving to single people from “The Guide Board to Health, Peace and Competence” basically states; you’re worthless and it would be better for everyone if you would just die.

Happy New Year!!!!!!

Today starts the year of the rat in China.

Today in Holidays

Today is Ash Wednesday the start of Lent. Making this year's Easter the 23rd of March and a day later then the earlies day that Easter can be. Which we are sure we will get into how they set up the day for Easter later and do not feel like explaning it now.

Happy Fat Tuesday!!!!

A Book in Review – Vampirates

Book Count: 13

Vampirates By: Justin Somper
Fiction: youth, fantasy 330 pages 2006

This book is obviously not one of the books that I read as a child; however, with a title like “Vampirates” I had to read it. It is as you may guess about vampire pirates. This book takes place in the 2500’s in a post apocalyptical world that is much like the Golden Age of Piraticy but they occasionally talk about modern things. Which is odd. Also although there are pirates doing pirate things and vampires doing vampire things there really no vampire pirates. As a whole this story was a let down, it wasn’t that scary, the ending stank and it wasn’t very exciting either.

A Book in Review – Discovering the Mysteries of Ancient America

Book Count: 12

Discovering the Mysteries of Ancient America: Lost History and Legends, Unearthed and Explored Edited By: Franck Joseph
Non-fiction: alternative histories, archeology 264 pages 2006

This book is all about the finds in the Americas that do not fit the popular view of American History (i.e. Native Americans can here over the Bering Strait from Asia chasing game, Columbus discovered America etc.) And about how science backs these finds, but people don’t want to believe them. Some of the things that they have written about are things that you are starting to hear about in specials on history/learning channels today as possibilities or are generally believed by people now. (Vikings landing in North America before Columbus, the Aztec calendar predicting the end of the world in Dec 2012 etc.) And some it will take much more proof before it could be taken seriously by scientist and historians (Some Native Americans were white and some came here 40,000 years ago.) Some is just odd (tablets found buried in Michigan could explain the golden scroll of the Mormon Church.) But, it was fun to read these odd bits of history and then be able to see if and how such finds might change our views of history in the future.

Happy Groundhog Day!!

So what is with this day anyway? There is an old saying that states, “For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, so far will the snow swirl in May. . .” Hence the shadow causing snow, even though one would think that it would mean warmer weather. And the groundhog? Well it is a German holiday and they were most likely drinking up all the beer before Lent when they invented the day. (Which started with a badger.) And of course today is Candlemas or Purification Day or the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus. So what’s with that? Well, today is 40 days after Christmas and according to Jewish law a woman was ritually “unclean” for 40 days after giving birth to a son. So on the 40th day they would go to the temple, offer sacrifices and be purified. This day was also the 1st time Jesus would have been to the temple. Over time it was also the day that the candles for the year were blessed and distributed giving it the name Candlemas.

Groundhog Day

Tomorrow is Groundhog Day. As many of you know that is a day when in Punxsutawney PA. they drag a groundhog out of his house to forecast the weather. To see it live starting at 7 a.m. Eastern Standard Time click here.
To see our list of traditional Groundhog Day activates click here.
For more actual information on Groundhog Day, see you tomorrow.

Book Count: January

Number of books read: 11
Pages read: 3175
Average number of days to read a book: 3
Average number of pages read in a day: 102
Number of more books to read to reach goal: 89

A Book in Review – The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Outrageous Excuses

Book Count: 11

The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Outrageous Excuses By: David Macfarlane
Non-fiction: Humor 485 pages 2006

As one could guess this book is a giant listing of excuses. The excuses run from the practical to the insane. Real life excuses giving by various famous and everyday people are also in the book with a short explanation on when and how they were used. There are tips on the types of excuses and how to best use them.

A Book in Review – Berserk!

Book Count: 10

Berserk! : Terrifying True Stories of Notorious Mass Murders and the Deranged Killers Who Committed Them, By: Graham Chester
Non-fiction: true crime, physiology 252 pages 1993

As this is an older book we will not review it, but instead let you know how to tell if you or someone you know is more likely to become a mass murder based on things that most ones have in common.

1. Being male: (according to the FBI over 90% of people who kill 4 or more people or men. Women killers tend to kill either only family members, for money, for ideology or while helping a male loved one who is a killer.)

2. Being white/ being in the historic majority ethnic group and/or group that runs the majority of the country.

3. Being an only child or first born with an unusually close relationship with your mother and a negative or non-existent relationship with your father.

4. Being part of a culture that values guns: Actually it depends on how you value guns, the more American “wild west” type way a group of people see guns the more likely they are to have mass murders.

5. Having an inflated sense of personal sovereignty: see #2 and 3.

6. Being socially isolated: We all know mass murders are almost always described as nice quiet/shy guys.

7. Being lower class or first generation middle class and being obsessed with getting more status.

8. Being obsessed with the military: If in the military one is most likely a private first class or a corporal. Also see #4.

9. Feeling like a failure: A lose of a job, getting kicked out of school or some other failure is often what triggers the attack.

Other traits often connected with mass murderers.

1. Having a dark secret that you are afraid people know about: Especially a sexual secret such as extreme Oedipal complex or soliciting gay sex in back alleys.

2. Having an extremely conservative moral code or sense of patriotism: This is especially true in the case in those with the dark secret that goes against everything else that they believe in, although there are a number of mass murders who we would consider Nazis.

3. Having grown up in an abusive home: They will also show abusive behavior shortly before the murders.

4. Being paranoid or fearful: see #1.

5. Being obsessed with an Armageddon.

6. Watching mainly violent TV shows and movies with a vilagantie, dirty cop, revenge etc. themes.

Holidays in February:

African American History Month
Chocolate Lover’s Month
Friendship Month


2 Groundhog Day
Imbok
Candlemas/Purification Day

3 Super Sunday
Diabetes Sunday

5 Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday

6 Start of Lent/Ash Wednesday

7 Chinese New Year
Tet Nguyen Dan

10 World Marriage Day

11 Thomas Edison/Inventor’s Day

12 Lincoln’s Birthday

14 Valentine’s Day

18 Presidents’ Day
Pluto Day

29 Leap Day

A Note on Numbers

As you may have noticed shortly into the New Year we changed our tagline to “Watch us try and read 100 books this year.” As you may also have noticed we have multiple editors. (We would take this time to recommend our web editor’s blog http://howisthatnew.blogspot.com/
but they haven’t posted a blog in months.) So we just wanted to let you know that the 100 books in the count are only those actually read by our head editor. Books on tape, read by other editors or read in dreams do not go into the count. So we are not cheating and having five people read 20 books each or something. It’s one person reading an average of 8 to 9 books a month every month.

A Book in Review – The Care and Feeding of Books Old and New

Book Count: 9

The Care and Feeding of Books Old and New By: Rosenberg and Marcowitz
Non-Fiction: books, hints, cleaning 182 pages 2002

We had three major problems with this book, one practical and two ideological. First the practical problem, most all of the information in this book is either common knowledge or things that you could pick up on your own with a little trial and error. The one good hint on book care that we have never heard and wouldn’t think about is how they got old books to smell better, which was using a solid air freshener in an air tight box with a few books around it. Now to the ideological problems: first, these people are dog people. The whole reason that they wrote this book is from what they learned selling books on dogs. We are cat people; we find all there “dogs are great” bits to be annoying and they have nothing to do with the subject. The second issue on our different prospective was that they look at books like collectors who see all books as collection worthy. We like to enjoy our books, and think they get a bit crazy at times. We would kick out of our house anyone that tried to shame us for not dusting, cleaning, and “properly” rotating our collection of old beaten up paperbacks that we got for $1 a bag at the church rummage sale already in that condition. They actually suggest shaming friends into taking care of all books they way they do. (We are amazed that they actually suggest that one can read a book, with the proper projection in the correct manner, of course.) We could see the good in offering to help fix books for our local library or getting them to make up a flyer or book mark on how to care for the libraries books; however, to be horrified that the library would rather sell one of their 20 (million) copies of “Harry Potter” then spend the time fixing it is just silly.

A Book in Review – I Am America (And so Can You!)

Book Count: 8

I Am America (And so Can You!) By: Stephen Colbert
Non-Fiction: Humor, etc. 228 pages 2007

This book was written by Stephen Colbert the character not Stephen Colbert the actor. If you don’t think that that is an important difference then look it up at Wikipedia; two different people, which according to Stephen Colbert the character makes it true. (The people have spoken!) If that made no sense to you because you don’t watch The Colbert Report then this is not the book for you. It was written for members of the “Colbert Nation” (People who love the show) as something for them to do when not watching The Colbert Report, getting things named after Stephen Colbert, buying things off his web site, defending themselves from bears and the pro-bear agenda and what ever else he tells them to do on his show. Amazingly, unlike the other humor book written by a comedian that I read this year, this book is like watching an episode of the show. (Amazingness do to the fact the Colbert the character hates book and reading. Like watching TV as sometimes he says the exact same things on TV.) So, if you like the humor of The Colbert Report or somehow think it is not meant to be funny, but still like it, then this book is for you.

Quotes of Martin Luther King Jr.

+We cannot be truly Christian people so long as we flaunt the central teachings of Jesus: brotherly love and the Golden Rule.

+If a man hasn't discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live.

+Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

+Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

+Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity

+One who breaks an unjust law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

+Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and . . . when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.

+A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of Saint Thomas Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law.

+Morality cannot be legislated but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.

+Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.

+My study of Gandhi convinced me that true pacifism is not nonresistance to evil, but nonviolent resistance to evil. Between the two positions, there is a world of difference. Gandhi resisted evil with as much vigor and power as the violent resister, but True pacifism is not unrealistic submission to evil power. It is rather a courageous confrontation of evil by the power of love. .

+Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon . . . which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.

+Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.

+Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.

+The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers.

+Many people fear nothing more terribly than to take a position which stands out sharply and clearly from the prevailing opinion. The tendency of most is to adopt a view that is so ambiguous that it will include everything and so popular that it will include everybody. Not a few men who cherish lofty and noble ideas hide them under a bushel for fear of being called different.

+A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on an installment plan.

+Rarely do we find men who willingly to engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.

+We may have all come on different ships, but we are in the same boat now.

A Book in Review – UJBR: Plunges into History

Book Count: 7

Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader: Plunges into History By: The Bathroom Readers’ Hysterical Institute
Non-Fiction: History, short stories 490 pages 2001

We at WNBNI like history and we like short stories and factoids so it would stand to reason that we would love this book. And for the most part we did like it, there was just one problem, in multiple cases the book states something as fact that we have heard from multiple other reliable sources is not true or isn’t known. And its not like it’s saying “many people think this but its incorrect” or “new evidence shows this” it just acts like it is already an established fact. For example, there is an article on the Roma (aka Gypsies) stating that they are from Northern India as if everyone knows that. Sure the name Gypsy, meaning one from Egypt is generally thought to be incorrect by all, but we’ve read interviews of people who were Roma stating that they are called that because they are from Rome, and of course there are the various people who believe that they are a “Lost Tribe” of Israel or are originally from some other group in the Middle East with all the similarities in culture. And again it would be one thing if they backed this “fact” up (for example if it was determined as part of the human genome project) and sure it adds to the cruel irony of Nazism if one of the groups that they went after were the only true Aryans in Germany, but with multiple facts that we don’t know if they are facts or not we could no longer trust that any of the facts that we didn’t already know were true. Lucky, this book mainly had facts that we already knew put in fun new ways.

A Book in Review – Hollywood Urban Legends

Book Count: 6

Hollywood Urban Legends By: Richard Roeper
Non-Fiction: celebrities, legends 240 pages 2002

This book had some fun urban legends in it. However, most of the legends were either ones that I had never heard of, or ones that I already new the truth of. There were a few ones that although I had never heard of before the truth behind the story was interesting, and there were a lot of little facts that someone that is into Hollywood would be interested in: things like Nicolas Cage is really related to Francis Ford Coppola, Liz Sheridan (who played Jerry’s mom on the show Seinfeld) dated James Dean and Mama Cass Elliot and Keith Moon both died in the same apartment.

A Book in Review – The World is Flat

Book Count: 5

The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, By: Thomas L. Friedman
Non-fiction: current events, science, business 469 pages 2005

This book takes a look at all the factors that are “flattening” the world by making it easier to connect with people around the globe, how that is being used, ways that it is helpful or harmful to different groups and countries and the forces that are working to stop this. For when it was written it was well done; however, given the speed in which this is happening even being a couple years old makes parts of this book obsolete. For example, any book written today about how the shift of factory jobs to China would need to address the many problems found with the goods made in China over the last year and the ways that companies deal with the required recalls and how they affect the way the company, factory and countries involved work. In this book it was still operating under a believe that these goods were as safe as when they were made elsewhere. But it still was worth reading for the areas that would still be true today and for its analyst of how this flattening of the world is both helping unindustrialized nations better there standards of living, and creating problems due to the speed of changes. It also has an interesting theory on the sudden growth of fundamental Islamic terrorist groups. And at a bonus to mothers of young children everywhere it finally puts Pizza Guy as a hero on “Higglytown Heroes”. (Anyone that has been forced to watch this show over and over again will understand it. The book is talking about how technogy has allowed then to connect actors in Hollywood or New York with writers and artist across the country and the world, but importantly it goes over the ideas and goals of the show, which is about how everyone is a hero in their own way by doing their jobs. So people have been heroes because they cook, knit, feed the dog, brush their teeth and other simple non-hero type things, but there is this one guy (Pizza Guy) who delivers pizza and is always helping these kids in the show out, as if he was a helpful big brother that is NEVER EVER said to be a hero in the show even though he does more then the heroes sometimes, and it is nice to see that the creators of the show know that in “Higgly” logic he is a hero too.)

How’s it going?

We at WNBNI would like to know how your New Year’s Resolution is going? It’s been a couple of weeks now, so it’s getting to the point where many people give up. Hang in there, many people believe that if you do something for 30 days it becomes a habit making it easier for you to continue it.

Correction

It appears that we were incorrect in our blog yesterday. We incorrectly thought that as the SC vote was this week and it was being talked about much more then MI that it too was on Tuesday, as it is the day of the week that elections are almost always held on, and we thought that they were on the same day, but as SC is more important (with all the votes counting in all) that that was why we were only hearing about it. However, it turns out that it is on Saturday. Sorry for any inconvenience that this caused.

Attention MI and SC

Remember that today is the primary in your states, so get out and vote because every vote counts! Unless of course, you are a Democrat in Michigan. Then don’t bother because the party refuses to count your vote just because your state changed the date of the primaries, which you also had no say in. Boy, for a party running 3 minority candidates in one year (a female, African-American, and a magic leprechaun [we want to know what spell he used to get such a HOT wife]) the Democrats sure are picky. First, they won’t let Stephen Colbert run in SC, even though he is actually a Democrat. (Luckily, Huckabee still is offering him a chance to be Vice-Pres so he can enjoy the race threw him.) Now, they aren’t counting votes in a state that has been known to be a swing state in the election, way to piss off the people you’ll need in a few months! Anyway, if you’re in SC or in any other party then Democrats in Michigan go out and vote. And if you are a Michigan Dem. You could always right in a vote that won’t be counted to say “Screw you, party for not counting me!” We hear Ralph Wigmins is running.

A Book in Review – Michigan: Rogues, Desperados, Cut-Throats

Book Count: 4

Michigan: Rogues, Desperados, Cut-Throats By: Tom Powers
Non-Fiction: history, biographies 129 pages, 2002

This book includes some interesting people. There is the person that is thought by many to be the real life Paul Bunyan. And a man so evil that it is said the seven ministers refused to say his funeral and that he was buried outside of the graveyard as no one would bury him on holy ground. There is also the story of the man whose execution is what caused Michigan to be the first state without the death penalty. There are also stories from Helltown, USA. (That is amazingly not about the city of Hell, MI.) And many other amazing true life tales. All and all this was an interesting look at Michigan history.

A Book in Review – The Doll People

Book Count: 3

The Doll People By: Martin & Godwin
Fiction: Youth, fantasy 256 pages, 2000

We thought that while we were reading a large number of books, we would try to hunt down some of the books that we loved as kids, but do not remember the title or author. There were a number of books that were about living dolls, so we tried this one. Once we got to the title page, we knew that this was not one of the books, but it looked interesting and so we read it. This book has the required 100 year old living dolls, but it also has the twist of having new plastic living dolls that move into the next door bedroom of their owner’s little sister. And like all books with living dolls there is a mystery that needed to be solved. It’s mystery what happened to the aunt doll that disappeared decades ago. It was a fun read that would be well liked by a younger girl.

They’re Back!!!

The Daily Show and the Colbert Report are back!!! Of course the strike is still on, so there is the whole: will it be as good, will this hurt the strike issues, but as someone that is tired of getting there news from “reliable” “unbiased” sources I am excited. That and as phony news/ interviews it doesn’t need to be written like say a sit-com does. Which brings up a question that we would like to know your thoughts on. With the lack of new episodes of shows that started in the fall and limited ones on the shows that start in January, do you think shows that were popular will lose ratings after the strike due to people giving up on them and getting use to nothing being on TV? Let us know what you think.

A Book in Review – When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?

Book Count: 2

When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? By: George Carlin
Non-Fiction: Humor, 295 pages 2004
We heard a lot of good things about this book when it first came out, and so when we saw it we thought we would enjoy reading it. We find Goerge Carlin’s work to be largely funny; at times more offencive then funny, but overall some one we would watch perform as long as we weren’t hanging out with our grandparents or some one like that. But this book wasn’t that good. For the first 20 pages or so we seriously considered not finishing the book. The book has three major problems. First, some of the material just wasn’t that funny to start with. Some things would be funny, it we were watching it being preformed with the change in tones, timing and actions to realy get us involved with the joke, but being words on a page causes the joke to fall flat or made it go from humorous anger to “this guy should see a shrink and take some pills before he kills someone,” anger. And lastly some things were funny, even as they were, but the joke was just taken too far so that it lost some of its humor. For example a bit on how people compare size of tumors to fruits was followed by one about how they compare them to sports equipment (i.e. balls). Each was funny on it’s own but together not that good.

2007 in Review

It is that time of year when all you here about is what happened last year, and we at WNBNI have decided to be no different. Only we will be reviewing only the best of our blog, as if you want a timeline of how crazy Britney was when there are most likely a million sites with that information.

Jan:
We started the year with holiday info and help with your resolutions.
We made our sister happy with our report “The Rise of Manatee’s Mating Rituals in Popular Culture”. To read the report click here.
Our web editor made their own blog.
And we learned that having an affair is a felony that could land you with life in prison. Really, click here to read about it.

Feb:
We celebrated Black History Month, Edison’s Birthday, Valentine’s Day, governmental stupidity, Chinese New Year, and Marti Gras. And all in only 28 days!
We asked you what you would like us to read and report about.

March:
Pi Day!!!!!
We learned about St. Patrick and the Irish while noting that St. Patrick was actually the only English man all the Irish like.
We learned that pot is not kosher during Passover.

April:
We found out what to do on Good Friday.
We ranted on Cadbury Cream Eggs getting smaller.
We learned how to tell time in Ancient times. Click Here for a refresher.
We ranted on Email forwards

May:
We started “Phobia of the Day”
1,000 hits to the blog!

June:
We asked what you would like to see in this blog, and we are still taking answers.
We blogged from the worlds slowest connection.

July:
We started “Presidents on Politics.”
We ranted on Disney playing Halloween films in July.
We ran our tag line contest

Aug:
There were Phobias and books what more do you want?

Sept:
The Classic WNBNI “Useless Conversion Chart”
We started “Daily Education”
We celebrated like it was 1999, because in the Coptic and Ethiopian calendar it was until the 12th.

Oct:
Super Holiday Special!!!
We started “In Other Words”
We learned of other Holidays in Oct.
We gave tips on stopping Vampires and becoming werewolves.
We learned some famous last words.

Nov:
We had our yearly list of odd patron saints.
We learned of the holidays of Nov. and Dec.
We studied the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. To get the song stuck in your head click here.

Dec:
We celebrated Advent, Hanukkah, St. Lucy’s Day, Christmas, and New Years. There were quizzes, quotes, and one guy calling people names.

A Book in Review – The Best Case Scenario Handbook

Book Count 1

The Best Case Scenario Handbook By, John Tierney
Non-Fiction, how to, 149 pages 2002

This book is exactly like the worst case scenario books. . . it will never happen to you, you won’t remember what you are to do if it does happen, etc. But, these are things that you would want to happen. Things like winning a Nobel Prize, negotiating with a magic genie, and being able to read minds. And with only 149 pages it quickly added to my book numbers for this year.

Note to Self

Book Count 0 (was read in ’07)

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents By: Terry Pratchett
Fiction: Young Adult, fantasy 241 pages, 2001

What if the master mind behind the Pied Piper was his talking cat? Then he would be Maurice and this would be his story. This book was a fun read and I would do a full report on it, but I’m tired and I already reviewed another young adult book from this author. To see it click here.

Happy New Year

Well, it’s the New Year somewhere in the world, and if you’re like me, you are often online at all hours and could be reading this at one in the morning.

A Book in Review – How to Cheat a Dragon’s Curse

How to Cheat a Dragon’s Curse: The Heroic Misadventures of Hiccup the Viking By: Cressida Cowell
Fiction: youth, fantasy, historic fiction, 241 pages 5 grade reading level, 2006

This is a fun book. It is written as if the main character is the writer including the drawings and bits that kids like to add to their work. It is part of a series of books on being a Viking pirate/ owning a dragon. I will be on the look out for the other books. The only downside to the book is its historic problems. On one hand it expects the reader to have a basic understanding of Norse mythology and that the Vikings might have been the first Europeans to America, but on the other hand it has them eating American foods before they discovered America. But, as it is a fantasy book with dragons and other mythical things it does make it easier to overlook things that would be unacceptable in a book that was solely historic fiction.

A Book in Review – Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing

Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing, By: Elmore Leonard
Non-fiction, writing 89 pages 2001

We picked this book out as part of our read more to write better idea. This doesn’t count as either. The rules were stupid and the pages had about one or two sentences every other page. We were glad that we got this from the library and no one we know wasted $14.95 on it.

New Year’s Resolutions

Yes, it is that time again, time to think up you’re New Year’s Resolution. Last year we posted a list of the most common ones. To see it click here.
We at Weird News BNI have decided this year we would work on losing weight and quit smoking, OK so we don’t smoke and as we pointed out earlier we are at one of the few points in one’s life when even your doctor tells you to gain weight. (Remember all the blogs we didn’t post due to all day morning sickness?) So our goal is to read 100 books next year, in the hopes that it will improve our writing skills. Just so you don’t have to go back and count them we have posted 67 books that we read this year. And there are 5 more we didn’t get to noting yet making the count so far this year 72. So, what is your resolution and why, we want to know. Tell us in this post’s comments, because as everyone knows telling some one your goals increases your chances of carrying them out.

Merry Christmas and All

Today is the second day of Christmas. Be on the look out for those two turtledoves. But today is also a lot of other holidays and so we thought we would list all your reasons to party today.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Happy Feast of Stephen: As noted in the song "Good King Wenceslas" who we all learned last year was the Duke of Bohemia.

Happy Boxing Day: What's Boxing Day, Click Here.

Happy Bank Holiday: UK and some former British supjects, always looking for a way off work!

Happy First Day of Kwanzaa: or if you want to save space Kwanza.

Happy Winter Break: Because everyone knows that non-Christian kids would refuse to skip school if it was a Chistmas break, but with the state of public schools we can safely assume that they will never guess that winter break starts right before Christmas every year.

Fun Links

In case you can’t stand one more minute of family time, here are some fun links


On Christmas:

Remember when singers showed that they cared about things by singing? Click Here

For mildly angry Christians, Click Here (Although, many of the comments are correct X is actually an ancient shorthand for Christ making X-mas a perfectly acceptable Christian way of saying Christmas.)

For people loved by the electric co, Click Here

For 12 days of shopping, Click Here

On Other Things:

Everyone’s favorite: cars crashing to polka music (don’t worry it’s Weird Al) Click Here

For “Chuck Norris” in a blender, Click Here

For more commercialism, Click Here

It’s Christmas Eve!!!!!!

Only hours to go until Christmas!!! For those living in the Midwest remember: Meijer actually closes tonight!!! You can’t go there at 3 a.m. to finish all of your shopping!!!! For everyone else Meijer is like a super Walmart, only with slightly nicer things for $.11 more. Anyway, Merry Christmas.

Two More Days ‘till Christmas!!!!

As we have a dozen more things to do before Christmas, we thought you might enjoy this classic Weird News BNI. (Most likely from 2006.)




Weird News B.N.I. (i.e. My paper that I write sometimes.)
Holiday SUPER Edition (really same as normal edition, but in CAPITALS)


Fun Holiday Quiz
Colors and Candles
What are the 3 colors associated with Kwanzaa?
What is the name of the 7 candle candleholder used during Kwanzaa?
What are the 2 colors associated with Hanukkah?
What is the name of the 9 candle candleholder used during Hanukkah?
What are the 2 colors associated with Christmas?
What is the name of the 4 candle candleholder used the 4 weeks before Christmas?
Songs
1. Who is noted as being “not a Jew” and “still not a Jew” in Adam Sandler’s Hanukkah songs?
2. In “The Dreidel Song” what is the dreidel made out of?
3. This Christmas carol was written to be played on guitar because the church’s organ was broke.
4. What does Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunks sing about wanting for Christmas?
5. Although the song is “We Three Kings” how many actually where there?
Food
What types of foods are traditional made during Hanukkah?
What is a common Christmas day food? A) Turkey B)Ham
C) Fried rice D) waffles or pancakes E) A & B F) all of above G) none of above
Dates & Times
1. How long is Kwanzaa?
2. When was Kwanzaa 1st celebrated?
3. What is another name for the 12th day of Christmas?
4. What was the date of the 1st Christmas? (Note use the Gregorian or Julian calendar)
5. On what date (day and month) was the temple both profaned with pagan worship and purified according to Jason of Cyrene? (Note use Hebrew calendar)
Misc.
Kwanzaa means “1st fruits of the harvest” in this language?
Do you know the number of different correct ways to spell Hanukkah?
Where has St. Nicholas been buried? A) Italy B)Turkey C)The North Pole – Canada D)Russia E)A and B F)A and D G)None of the above
What famous member of the back to Africa movement created the Bendera flag?
What does Bethlehem mean in English?
Judas, the son of the priest Mattathias, who lead the revolt that took back the temple, starting the holiday of Hanukkah, was called what?



ANSWERS
Colors and candles
Red, green & black
Kinara
Silver & blue
Menorah
Red & green
An advent wreath
Songs
O.J. Simpson
Clay
Silent Night
a Hula-hoop
This is a trick question, although 3 gifts are named in the Bible it doesn’t say how many people came, 0 would also be a correct answer as the wise men were most likely astronomers and not kings
Food
Foods cooked in oil i.e. fried foods
F, “Waffle House”, “IHOP” and Chinese restaurant are some of the few restaurants open on Christmas
Dates and Times
7 days, Dec 26-Jan 1
1966
Jan 6th, the Epiphany, or 3 Kings Day
This was a trick question, no one knows, although some theologians think it really was in spring.
the 25th of Chislev
Misc.
1. Swahili
2. Yes or No, depending on if you know
3. E
4. Marcus Garvey
5. House of Bread
6. Maccabee or Maccabeus

Scoring
24 correct – I didn’t know any of my friends was an African America Messianic Jew.
20-23 – You are a holiday genius.
15-19 - You are well rounded in holiday information
10-14 – You know your holiday well
0-9 - Did you take the test?


Movie Quotes:
Ø “I can't put my arms down!!” – A Christmas story
Ø “Christmas is a very busy time for us, Mr. Cratchit. People preparing feasts, giving parties, spending the mortgage money on frivolities. One might say that December is the foreclosure season. Harvest time for the money-lenders.” –The Muppet’s Christmas Carol
Ø “Wise man: We were led by a star.Brian's mother: Led by a bottle, you mean.” – Life of Brian
Ø “First, I went through the seven layers of the Candy Cane Forest. Then, I went past the swirly, twirly gumdrops. And after that: I went under the Lincoln Tunnel.” –Elf
Ø “You're not Santa. You smell like beef and cheese! You don't smell like Santa”-Elf
Ø “Clark: Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat? Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead?
Eddie: Naw, I'm doing just fine, Clark.” –National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Ø “Mordechai Jefferson Carver: Let's dance the hora.
Santa Damien: You're a hora!”- The Hebrew Hammer
Ø “Mordechai Jefferson Carver: [talking on the phone] I need you to get in contact with the world-wide Jewish media conspiracy and mass produce every holiday movie that has a Jewish protagonist who is depicted in a positive light.
Chief Bloomenbergansteinthal: So you want me to mass produce "Yentl," "Fiddler on the Roof" and Chaim Potok's "The Chosen?"
Mordechai Jefferson Carver: Right.” –The Hebrew Hammer
Ø “Look, Daddy. Teacher says every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.” – It’s a Wonderful Life
Ø “Marcy: Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord.
Peppermint Patty: [while Marcy is speaking] Baa! Baa! Baa! Baa!
Boy: I am Gabriel, Mary, and I couldn't hear you because of the sheep.” – It’s Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown.
Ø “The ratio of people to cake is too big.” – Office Space
Ø “Merry Christmas everybody. And to my producer, my director, my manager and my lawyer, Happy Hanukkah, boys!” – SNL Christmas 1999

Happy Winter

Today is the 1st day of winter. Sure it’s been wintery for the last month, but now it’s really winter. Sure here the snow is melting now, but that is normal start of winter weather. So happy winter, Yule, solstice and any other way you can say, “Hey, it’s cold out!”

Merry Christmas (4 Days Early)

As you know Christmas in on Tuesday. But, as it’s a Tuesday this year, we are sure that many people’s celebrations are starting early, on today. So enjoy your office party tonight, but remember don’t do anything stupid!!!!!!! If you get the idea to take any of your clothes off or wear anything that you find around (i.e. lamp shade, tinsel, Kim from HR.) don’t do it, that is how 90% of office parties gone wrong stories start.

One Week 'till Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!

Yah!!!!!!!!!!!! And it snowed so it will most likely be a white Christmas, although who knows why that is soooo important. It's not like it snowed at the first one or anything.

Lazy

While thinking up ideas for fun blogs these last few days we looked at last years ones and decided that we just did too good of a job then. How could we improve on such perfection? What more is there to say? And so for today’s blog we would like to remind you to look threw our archives of blogs from last December for more Christmas fun.

Shameless Begging

It is once again that time of year when we at Weird News B.N.I. put together a list of ideas to give the Computer Cultured American (i.e. nerds and geeks) in your life. While you all full well know 1) what a CCA wants and 2) we are only shamelessly trying to get you to give us these things, maybe someone’s grandma will happen appond this blog looking for the web site on Medicare and give a good gift this year. (Not to say that older people can’t understand the internet: my grandparents are online because my step-grandma’s dad wanted to be able to email them, but I once had to write out instructions and post them on the computer so my dad could turn it on and off.) Anyway here are some gift ideas, that keeping with the: you really don’t need help with this theme, can all be found on-line. (Which of course I don’t know for sure how wonderful they are as I do not own then yet, but look at how shiny the picture is.)

*A shirt that actually detects Wi-Fi signals- Makes walking fun and useful
*A set of various sided dice in hematite- Or for the traditionalist real bone
*Plush Ninja – Cute and deadly
*A Sonic Screwdriver- Does not actual turn screws, but why would it?
*LED Candles- used 1/1000 of the electricity of old incandescent candles
*Japanese candies- or are they marbles, what’s with that bunny anyway, are they bunny flavored? Is it a mascot? What the ?!?!?!?!!???!
*Duct Tape Wallet- You will never need a new one, something happens. . . Get More Duct Tape!
*Caffeinated Soap – The Doctor only said to cut down on eating and drinking caffeine

Today in Holidays

Today is St. Lucy’s day also known as St. Lucia. It is used as the start of the Christmas season for some people and is even the day that some exchange gifts. It is also an unusual of a saint’s day for two reasons. First, excluding the area of Italy that she was from the holiday is mainly celebrated by Protestants. And second it has quite possibly the most dangerous festivities of any modern Christian Holiday. One the first part this is a holiday that in modern times is mostly celebrated in Scandinavia and in the parts of America that Scandinavian people moved. In America the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America sets asides today and often the Sunday closest to today in honor of St. Lucy including special vestments and activities. In many Scandinavian countries it is celebrated as a national holiday. Second, it is possibly the most dangerous holiday as in all countries traditions one girl (often the oldest in the family, but still could be as young as 7 or 8) is expected to dress in a white robe (often tied with a red ribbon to symbolize St. Lucy’s martyrdom) with a evergreen wreath on her head with many burning white candles in it. Her and her other siblings might also be expected to make their parents breakfast in bed with no adult help. And the young boys might make a traditional alcoholic drink to go with breakfast.

Deck the Halls and Read These Books

A Dickens of a Cat and Other Stories of the Cats We Love Edited by: Callie Smith Grant
Non-fiction: cat stories 185 pages 2007

This book is full of heart warming tales of cats and how they helped/saved the life of people around them. That is all. Given the title we were hoping for fun stories of the silly things cats do. Instead it was Lifetime for cat lovers. So if you know someone that likes to cry at touching stories and loves cats, this is the book for them.

Holiday Giving for Free

Last year I included a list of web sites for various charities for your last minute end of year giving. This year I wanted to tell you about a way to give to your favorite charities without spending any money or doing extra work. Just go to www.goodsearch.com when ever you need to run a search on the web. Type in what charity you would like to help out. (Many large ones are there as well as smaller ones like churches and schools.) And search away. If you are doing shopping online you can also connect to many different online stores threw this site and have money go to your charity.

Deck the Halls and Read These Books

Father Knows Less or: “Can I cook My Sister?”, By: Wendell Jamieson
Non-Fiction: Science 253 pages 2007

This book is a list of questions that children ask their parents and answers given by experts in the field of the question. The questions and experts are varied answering everything from “Why the Beatles Broke up?” to “Why is the Sky Blue?” with answers from scientists, cops, a dominatrix, and even Yoko Ono her self (Who refused to answer that she was the reason for the brake up.) It would be a great present for a new parent or an inquisitive older child. (The answers are not dumbed down making the answers to complex scientific question or on things like porn not necessarily appropriate for young children. [And no that is not the question answered by the dominatrix; she explained how a whip makes that cracking noise.]) Also, even in primitive cannibal societies you would only eat a family member if they died and food was scarce, not because they are crying and won’t shut up.

Happy Hanukkah!!!

I wanted to spend today’s blog talking about all the wonderful heartwarming Hanukkah specials and movies that will be airing now; however, the only Hanukkah “specials” on are a few children’s cartoons TV shows where one or two of the kids in the cartoon are Jewish and so they made an episode on Hanukkah which may be not much more then an explanation of the holiday in a kid friendly format for non-Jews. And I know of only two movies on Hanukkah and both are comedies geared for adult only audiences. One “The Hebrew Hammer” aired yesterday and I can find no more listings for it and “Eight Crazy Nights” will be on Saturday on some channel, which as the search for it only gave me the number on my TV, I don’t know what channel it’s on. Which made me ask the question, “Why are there not more Hanukkah specials and movies?” Sure it hasn’t been as commercialized as Christmas and modern Jewish holidays are more about family togetherness then “Everybody it’s a holiday be joyfulled NOW!!” But, the almost complete lack of holiday media is odd. Kwanzaa has almost as many things for it and it is 2 ½ thousands years younger of a holiday (give or take a couple decades) and has all of the controversities around it like: its founder, anti-Christian aspects of its founding, and how it lumps all African peoples together as if they were unified into one culture. So if anyone knows why this shortage of movies and TV specials or for that mater why “The Dradiel Song” and “The Hanukkah Song (Parts 1 and 2)” are the only Hanukkah carols anyone knows or why Adam Sandler alone has doubled the number of Hanukkah things please let us know are we are really interested!

Happy Hanukkah !!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, so if you are reading this before dusk it’s not Hanukkah yet, but as I may be busy then I thought I would say it now.

Hanukkah Quiz

Hanukkah starts tomorrow at sunset so here is a short quiz on the holiday.

1. Which is not a correct spelling of the holiday?

a. Channukah
b. Xanuka
c. Chanuko
d. Khanukkah
e. they are all considered correct

2. Which is not a reason given for Hanukkah being 8 days long?

a. Because that is how long the oil lasted in the Miracle of the Lights
b. In honor of 7 brothers and their mother that were tortured and killed because they refused to give up there Jewish faith.
c. Because 8 is considered a perfect number in Jewish mysticism.
d. To make up for the holiday that they couldn’t celebrate when oppressed.

3. Hanukkah is first called the Feast of Lights by this famous Jew.

a. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
b. Josephus
c. Jesus
d. Rabbi Hillel the Elder

4. As you may know there are all sorts of laws on being Kosher, so according to the Code of Jewish Law your menorah can be no taller then. . . .

a. You (max height 6 feet)
b. a horse (max height 7 cubits)
c. a two story house (max height 30 feet)
d. the length of your rabbi’s beard (varies)

5. All of the famous people below are Jewish, once were or have hinted at maybe being Jewish except. . .

a. Madonna (the singer)
b. Stephen T. Colbert (either the person or TV personality)
c. Bob Dylan
d. Adam (as in 1st man)





Answers:
1. e. they are all considered correct. Other spellings include Hanukkah and Kanukkah although spell check refuses to believe me.
2. c. Because 8 is considered a perfect number in Jewish mysticism. There are many important numbers in the mystic branches of Judaism such as 6, 7, 12, and 40 but as far as I know 8 isn’t one of them and I have never heard of it being a reason for Hanukkah’s length. For more info on the correct answers click here.
3. b. Josephus. Josephus was a very important first century C.E. Jewish historian.
4. c. a two story house (max height 30 feet) officially it can be up to 20 cubits high, which is 360 inches or 30 feet to be Kosher. The world’s tallest one was over 60 feet tall.
5. d. Adam (as in 1st man) As there was no one but his family around and what we think of as Judaism wasn’t started until the times of Abraham and Moses, Adam wouldn’t have called himself a Jew or any other religion. Madonna of course is into Kabala, a Jewish mysticism (She would have no problem with question number 2.) Bob Dylan (aka. Robert Zimmerman) was born in a Jewish family, was a practicing Jew for a time, became Christian and then I have no idea what he is now as he seams to go back and forth. And Stephen T. Colbert found out threw tracing back his genetic heritage that he has a 75% chance of being part Jewish.

1-3 right: Come one, you could have gotten 4 right just by reading last Hanukkah’s blogs. Read more WNBNI!!!!

4 right: Congratulations!!!! You have either read the Hanukkah blogs from last year on WNBNI, or you know a lot about it.

5 right: Great job give yourself a gold star, or silver to be more festive (unless you are unable to find a kosher sticker then imagine one.)

Today in Holidays

Today is the 1st day of Advent. It is also the start of a New Year for churches that use a liturgical calendar for their readings. This year it sounds like the Gospel readings with be from Matthew. Advent comes from the Latin word for arrival and is about preparing for the arrival of Jesus, both in the celebration of Christmas and in our own death/ end of the world (which ever comes first.) It started out in 581 as a time of fasting much like Lent (hence all the purple used as a sign of fasting and penitence) and was even known as St. Martin’s Lent as it started on the Feast of St. Martin (November 11th.) This was then slightly changed in the 7th century to be counted based on the number of Sundays before Christmas, but was still 6 weeks long. It was then changed by Gregory the Great to be four weeks long, who also wrote prayers for the season. The people in what is now France added the end time’s message and by the 12th century many of the ideas of modern Advent were in place. The Advent wreath like many beloved Christian customs started out as a pagan tradition that with a few small changes worked great to illustrate a Christian ideal. In this case it started out to represent life lasting in the winter and the circle of time with the candles votive offerings to the sun god for light. And was changed to be a symbol of the coming Christ, the light of the world and the everlasting life he brings. For a brief introduction on the Advent wreath click here.

Deck the Halls and Read These Books

The Wee Free Men By: Terry Pratchett
Fiction- youth, fantasy 263 pages, 5th grade reading level copyright 2003

This book has nothing to do with Christmas; however, we will be giving it out as a Christmas present to someone that does not read our blog and so we read it to see if it was something that we wanted to give. And as others might be in the same predictiment that we were we thought we would share with you. First, we got the names of some cousins in the family Christmas name exchange that were rabid Harry Potter fans and as such have been branching out into other fantasy books now that they have nothing more to read about Potter. They are also in high school and good readers, so we wanted to get something not too babyish for them, but didn’t want to randomly pick out some adult novel that was full of sex and/or gore as sometimes happens in fantasy books. (As we don’t want to deal with their mom when mad, it is not pretty!) We asked a friend into fantasy books for some ideas and they mentioned that we might like to try a Terry Pratchett novel. Looking on-line we saw this series of children’s books that he wrote, where this was the first in the series. According to the reviews by others it was interesting even to adults, but as the main character is only 9 we were worried that it would be too childish. We are happy to report that it is not too childish. There is only one time that it is mentioned that the main character is 9 and without that one could easily think that she is in her early teens. The story is fun with fun characters like the wee free men who are blue, tattooed covered little men in kilts, who escaped from fairyland. It also has a nice storyline in that Tiffany, the main character, must risk her life to save her little brother, even though, like most girls with little brothers, she doesn’t really like him. (He is always sticky and yelling that he needs to use the bathroom.) All in all, we wouldn’t mind reading more of this series, even if it is for kids.

Deck the Halls and Read These Books

The United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation, By: David Kamp
Non-fiction, food 364 pages copyright 2006

This book is a great read it you are a foodie. If you just like food or are interested in what people eat, but are not a foodie this book will be interesting as well but you may be insulted at times by the overwhelming hatred to jell-o, fast food, and other non-foodie foods. So if you don’t know if you are or are not a foodie here is a short quiz to help to find out.

1. Do you watch channels like the Food Network, Fine Living etc that have shows centered around food?
2. Do you like to watch chiefs like Bobby Flay for their superior cooking skills and do not think that they are self-centered jerks?
3. Do you hate that cooks like Rachel Ray and Sandra Lee have cooking shows even thought they make non-gourmet foods and use short cuts in their cooking?
4. Do you seek out restaurants of famous chiefs?
5. Do you read magazines devoted to gourmet cooking like “Gourmet” or “Food and Wine”?
6. Do you know what arugula or rocket (in British) is?

If you answered 5 or more of the questions yes, then you are a foodie and should read to book, if you like to read.

Holidays in the month of December

2- Start of Advent
3- International Day of Disabled People
4- Hanukkah starts
5- 21st Amendment Day
6- St. Nicholas Day
7- Pearl Harbor Day
8- Feast of the Immaculate Conception
10- Human Rights Day
12- Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
12- Poinsettia Day
13- St. Lucia Day
17- Saturnalia
20- Eid ul-Adha
22- Winter Solstice
22- World Peace Day
25- Christmas
26- Start of Kwanzaa
26- Boxing Day
26- St. Steven’s Day
31- New Year’s Eve

The day after Thanksgiving

As you know today is the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday as it is the first official day of Christmas shopping and the biggest day in retail. We at Weird News B.N.I. hope that you enjoyed your shopping. Now get ready for this year’s Christmas fun!!!!!


Countdown to Christmas: 32 days

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

A Thanksgiving Read

The Big Book of Beer: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Greatest Beverage on Earth By: Duane Swierczynski
Non-fiction: History, travel, cooking, crafts, science etc. 202pages copyright 2004

First, why is this a Thanksgiving read many of you are asking, the reason is although your high school history teacher might have made up some BS about the Pilgrims landing where they did because of being blown off course, or secretly planning to end up outside of the king’s colony, or needing to find a place in time for winter, the real reason that they ended up where they did is that the ship was running out of beer and the sailors wanted to dump them fast to make sure there was enough beer left for themselves. Beer is the worlds oldest drink (water sooooo doesn’t count as a drink, it’s like eating grass because you feel like stake, sure you need it to make what you want, but it in itself is in no way tasty.) And as such has a long and important history that this book gives to glimpses of. Although the title’s claim of having everything you want to know about beer isn’t necessary true it does include the major important things and fun facts too. (Note: if our web editor ever invites you over for a true luncheon you should eat first as in the Middle Ages a nunchion was having a beer at noon time and lunch was having some bread at noon making a luncheon a hunk of bread and a beer.) Anyway, this book is great fun for someone that loves beer.

Busy:

We at WNBNI would like to apologize for the lack of post. Like everyone we are busy getting ready for Thanksgiving. We have also been making crafts for a craft show, planning a surprise party (it was yesterday so they won’t find out about it from reading this, which is why we waited to post this), looking everywhere for the impossible to find Christmas present (found it!!!!), battling a cold and insomnia with out being able to take much medicine as we are also constantly sick with morning sickness for the last few months, and tired from the last three things too. Anyway that is why there are the missing post, but we hope after Thanksgiving to be better at posting as a number of those things will be done then. And we will only have to contine with the shopping for the perfect gift for the dozen other people on our list.

A Thanksgiving Read

The Thanksgiving Book
Non-fiction, cooking, songs, poetry etc, 119 pages

This book has some interesting recipes for Thanksgiving food from around the country. Each one has a short into to where it is from and some date back to colonial times. It also has stories, poems, songs and prayers for Thanksgiving time and some history on Thanksgiving. At the end is a place to put your own Thanksgiving information.

Cranberry Conversation

(Fun facts on that holiday berry.)

- A ripe cranberry will bounce.
- Cranberries were first called cranberries, most likely due to the way the flowers resemble cranes.
- They are also called mossberry in parts of Canada, fenberry in the UK and Sassamanash in certain Native American tribes.
- Cranberries were used in a Native American snack food with venison and fat.
- Cranberry bogs are only flooded for harvesting and to help the plants winter over, in the growing season they are dryer.
- Cranberries that will be sold fresh are often picked before flooding the bog.
- About 95% of cranberries grown are processed before selling. Mostly into juice but also sauces and dried.
- Cranberries were likely to have been at the Pilgrim’s Thanksgiving.
- Cranberries are though to be a superfood due to their antioxidants and phytochemicals.
- Scientist are researching its help benefits on the cardiovascular and immune systems (especially in stopping bladder infections) as well in its use and fighting cancers.

Turkey Talk

(Fun facts on the Thanksgiving bird)

- There is no evidence that turkey was eaten at the first Thanksgiving, although it is an animal native to North America.
- In fact in the years before refrigeration some form of pork, such as ribs were often eaten as that was the time of year that pigs were slaughtered, while turkeys could be eaten any time of the year.
- It is thought by many that turkey became the main meat at Thanksgiving in large part to the Norman Rockwell painting “Freedom from Want” that shows a woman setting a very large turkey down on the dinning room table.
- Every year two turkeys are picked out and the President pardon’s one after which both are retired to a petting zoo or farm.
- This custom originally started when President Lincoln was giving a turkey for Christmas dinner, but his children wanted to keep it as a pet, so he gave the turkey a pardon. And was later moved to a Thanksgiving Day custom.
- Although turkey’s contain high amounts of tryptophan, a chemical that causes sleepiness, it doesn’t contain enough to make on fall asleep and it is more the over eating of Thanksgiving that causes the post dinner nap.
- A 3.5 oz serving of turkey breast meat contains on average 17 g protein, 10% DRA of vitamin B1, 21% of B2, 10% B6, 10% vitamin C, 12% iron, 23% phosphorus, 13% zinc and smaller amounts of other vitamins and minerals.
- Scientifically there is no difference between wild and domestic turkeys.
- Only male turkeys gobble.
- The turkey can fly.

Today in History

Today in 1975 the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior about 17 miles from Whitefish Bay. All 29 crew members aboard died in a sinking that most likely took less then 10 minutes. Although many boats have sunk in the Great Lakes, it was the largest, most famous, and it remains a mystery exactly what happened. It is the largest as the boat was the biggest boat in the Great Lakes until the ‘70’s measuring 729 feet long and able to hold 26,600 tons of cargo. It is the most famous in large part to the song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot. If you live in the Great Lakes area or listen to a folk, country, classic rock, or mix of music radio station you can hear the song today by turning a radio on. (If outside the Great Lakes area, you may need to request it, if in side the area it may be played up to once every hour.) This song was at #2 on pop charts in 1976. And for a pop song contains few historic inacursies. The main ones are that the boat was headed to Detroit, the church in the song is actually called “The Mariners’ Church of Detroit”, the old cook wasn’t on the boat and his replacement was a young man, the captain didn’t call in, and they winds were not due to hurricanes or at hurricane levels. Mainly small changes that help make it easier to sing, or more interesting. It is also used in other songs about it, including a musical and there is a beer named after it. It is still a mystery what happened to it, even after finding the ship as important parts of the boat can’t be viewed with how it is laying on the lake bed, and even if they could move it out of the water it will not be done as it is a burial place for all the men in the ship. There are a few theories on what happened. At first it was thought that the huge boat snapped in two and then sank; however, after finding the boat it showed that although in two pieces, the pieces are too close together for that to be likely. It is also thought that the hatches were leaking, letting in water. Or that due to there radar being out they ran aground without knowing it and water got in that way. Reasontly the Discovery Channel has suggested that a set of freak waves damaged the hatch covers and sank the ship. This ship is also so important of a wreak as it happened only 32 years ago, the wives and/or children of the crew are still alive. In fact the reason that you don’t hear the song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” that much in TV or movies is that Lightfoot gave the rights to the song to all 29 families of the crew making it hard the get permission to use it. Also in 2005 there were efforts to make November 10th “Great Lakes Mariners Day” to honor all that died on the Great Lakes. For the lyrics to the song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” click here.

Food Rant

For thousands of years farmers have cultivated different plants changing them throughout the generations to showcase traits that they find desirable. Why is it then that when ever you cook with beets your kitchen looks like the set of a B grade horror film? If a cabbage can become anything from tiny Brussels sprouts to purple cauliflower then how come no one has worked on a beet that doesn’t bleed more than a nasty head wound? I for one would like to see a beet that doesn’t turn everything red. Some one should start working on this right away!!!

A Thanksgiving Read

Patriotic Holidays of the United States: An Introduction to the History, Symbols, and Traditions Behind the Major Holidays and Days of Observance, By: Helene Henderson
Non-Fiction: History, Holidays 359 pages copyright 2006

This book covers the history and traditions of: Armed Forces Day, Citizenship Day, Election Day, Emancipation Day, Juneteenth, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday, Memorial Day, National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, Patriot Day, Thanksgiving, Veterans Day, and Washington’s Birthday. In this book you learn many interesting facts like what a caisson is (from the song “The Caissions Go Rolling Along”), and that Citizenship Day also is in honor of American born citizens who have turned 18 that year. It includes many documents related to each holiday as well as web pages and information on places of major celebrations for each day. Over all I would recommend it as a good source of information as the only thing I found wrong with it is when talking about WWII it makes it sound as it only Jews were killed in the concentration camps, and I felt that it was a bit insulting to not note that other groups were also being targeted by the Nazis, being a part Polish person with some Gypsy ancestors and gay friends, as the least they could do is add “and millions others” to the line on the numbers killed.

Count Down to Thanksgiving

Starting today on food network every day they will have Thanksgiving programming starting at 8 p.m. From what I’ve seen so far some times it is an hour of programming and sometimes it is two hours. Also they are not only airing shows about only Thanksgiving but also shows dealing with foods common to Thanksgiving, for example a Good Eats on stuffing.

Today is Election Day

Today is election day. Although there are not state or national elections today, there are various local races such as mayor, city counsel and other possible city positions. So may sure you go out and vote as with fewer people voting on each thing today your vote counts for even more.

Holidays in November

1- All Saints’ Day
Day of the Dead
2-All Soul’s Day
4- Daylight Savings Time Ends
King Tut Day
5- Guy Fawkes Day
6- Election Day
Middle of Fall
8- Harvey Wallbanger Day
Parents as Teachers Day
9- Diwali
World Freedom Day
11- Veterans/Remembrance Day
Bhai Dooj
13- Young Readers Day
14- World Diabetes Day
15- Nativity Fast
16- Fast Food Day
International Day for Tolerance
17- World Peace Day
Lung Cancer Awareness Day
Survivors of Suicide Day
19- US Marine Corps Day
20- Universal Children’s Day
21- World TV Day
22- Thanksgiving
Stop the Violence Day
23- Leftlovers Day
Black Friday
25- St. Catherine’s Day
JFK Day
30- St. Andrew’s Day

A Question to You

We at WNBNI would like to know if you, the reader of WNBNI would like to have a “Holiday Question of the Day” Like we put in last years holiday editions. If so when you would like it to start and what holidays would you like to see included? Please tell us what you think in our comments for this entry.

Daylight Savings Time Ends

Tomorrow at 2 a.m. daylight savings time ends, so remember to set your clocks back one hour before you go to bed. Also remember that it is the end of the savings time for daylight, because there is just sooo little daylight in the summer that we have to save it. Also to read a classic WNBNI on the “truth” behind Daylight Savings time, click here.

Today in Holidays

Today is the Feast of All Saints Day, as anyone who knows the history of Halloween knows it is the All Hallows that yesterday is the eve of. As I stated last year it’s a day for all the saints that aren’t officially known as saints (and those that got moved off the calendar of saints to make room of others.) Because of this it is hard to write about the people that this holiday is for. So the next week of entries will be the life stories of all my relatives that I am sure are honored in this holiday. Just kidding!! As tomorrow is All Souls’ Day to be fair I then would have to spend the rest of the month talking about everyone that was a jerk, but God still loves them. No once again I will be talking about patron saints. This time more on people that became the patron of something centuries after they lived and one that is only unofficially the patron of this. (Note: Now a day basically a saint becomes a patron of something either as it was part of their life, or enough people want them to be the patron of blank and the pope OKs it.)

St. Isidore of Seville (d. 672) unofficial patron saint of the internet. St. Isidore lived long before even the most basic of electronics, so why pick him for the internet? Easy, he made an encyclopedia of all knowledge known in Europe at that time. And if you remember you internet history (besides how it’s a series of tubes invented by Al Gore) then you know that sharing all the information in the world was one of the internets early goals.
St. Helen (d. 329) patron saint of divorce. St. Helen actually was divorced. Her husband left her after years of marriage to marry a younger woman with better political ties, but it is only in reasont years that she was declared the patron of this as up until the last century divorce was almost unheard of in all Christian societies.
St. Margaret of Cortona (d. 1297) patron saint of single mothers. Much like St. Helen she actually experienced what she has reasontly became the patron of. She became the mistress of a single nobleman in her early teens. They lived together for years having one son. When here lover was murdered she turned her life around and ended up becoming a nun. Unlike in the case of St. Helen single mothers were not uncommon in her lifetime or when she was declared a saint; however, as she was a single mother because she never married her child’s father and not due to a husband dying, many think that she wasn’t made the patron saint of single mothers until now for fear that to do so might condone her early lifestyle.
St. Joseph of Cuperting (d. 1663) patron saint of air travelers. There were no planes during his life, so why is he the patron of flying? Simple, he had the habit of levitating when praying. There are records of 70 times that this happened, including times in which the nearby villagers would watch, and a investigation by the Inquisition in which they could not find anyway that he was faking.