Sunday, February 03, 2013

Days of the Week With Names

Today is Super Bowl Sunday.  Every year one Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday.  Since days of the week are inanimate man-made constructs, they don't get jealous of one another.  But what's interesting to me at this moment, in the hours before sunrise on a Sunday is that there are very few special days where both the event or holiday include the day of the week in how they are described.

New Year's Day, Valentine's Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Halloween, Veteran's Day and Christmas Day fall on different days each year.  Martin Luther King Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day always fall on Monday.  But they aren't Memorial Monday, Labor Monday and so on. 

Some religious holidays follow the example of Super Bowl Sunday.  Easter Sunday.  Good Friday.  But for the most part we don't see such things.  Every four years we do get one Super Tuesday, when a large number of presidential primaries are held on one specific Tuesday.  Heck, even the day when we vote in a president every four years isn't Election Tuesday.  It's Election Day.

So why do we have Super Bowl Sunday, Easter Sunday, Good Friday and so on?  Anyone know?  I was just pondering this burning question this morning.  Other things I'm pondering at 5:19 a.m. are:

Are people really going to wager real money on the predominant color of Beyonce's top worn during the half-time show?

Would you bet on what will be the first penalty called and accepted?  Pass Interference will pay 7 to 1 for your wager.

But the weirdest proposition bet is the over/under on how many times the announcers will say the name Harbaugh.  That's standing at under 21.5 at the moment.  I'll take the over on that one.

Is there something cursed about the TV series "Lost in Space"?  I'm trying to watch the first four episodes of season  1 through Netflix on DVD.  And for the second time, they've sent me a DVD where I can't watch all of the episodes.  I've managed to make it through 3 of the 4, but the 4th is not working right.  Once again I have to report a bad DVD and wait for a replacement.  With my luck, the bad one I sent back once will be the replacement sent to me.

Will Daniel Craig be back in the sequel to "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"?  Rumors are he's asking for too much money.  You go Daniel.

Eating chocolate can lower your risk of stroke, especially if you are male.  Eating chocolate will increase your weight, raising your risk of stroke, especially if you are male.  So should or shouldn't men eat chocolate to help prevent strokes?  I'm confused.

Did you know that in the iconic music video for the late Robert Palmer's big hit "Addicted to Love", the band of nearly identical, gorgeous women were actually filmed separately from his performance and the two were added together?  I didn't.

If we aren't supposed to use Q-tips to clean our ears, why do they sell so many packages of them?

This Date in History:

On this date in 1377, more than 2,000 people of the Italian city of Cesena were slaughtered by Papal troops.
On this date in 1451, Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
On this date in 1690, the colony of Massachussets issues the first paper money in America.
On this date in 1783, Spain recognizes the independence of the United States.
On this date in 1809, the Illinois Territory is created.
On this date in 1834, Wake Forest University is established.
On this date in 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment is ratified guaranteeing citizens the right to vote regardless of race.
On this date in 1917, the U.S. breaks off diplomatic relations with Germany one day after Germany announced a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.
On this date in 1959, February 3rd became "the day the music died", as a plane crash killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper and the pilot Roger Peterson.  Waylon Jennings lived another 43 years and Dion is alive today because they didn't board that plane.
On this date in 1961, the U.S. Air Force began "Operation Looking Glass", the mission of keeping an airborne command post aloft, in case of nuclear war.  The operation would continue for 30 years.
On this date in 1971, NYPD officer Frank Serpico is shot during a drug bust.  Many think his later testimony regarding police corruption proves this was an attempt to murder him by crooked cops.
On this date in 1998, Karla Faye Tucker was executed in Texas, becoming the first woman executed in the U.S. since 1984.