Today Is... 📆

#102

:wave: Good morning! :cloud_with_rain:

It’s Saturday, 30 January 2021 (W4/D30)

Today is:

:star: Croissant Day :croissant:

If there is a better way to start the weekend than with a warm, soft, flaky, fresh from the bakery croissant and a good coffee I don’t know what it is. Happy Croissant Day!

Synonymous these days with France and Parisienne cafés, the humble crescent-shaped pastries are actually believed to have originated in Austria.

The legend of how the croissant came to be is that in 1683, the Turkish Empire laid siege on Vienna, Austria. The Turks made several attempts to conquer the city by force, but were unsuccessful, so decided to try underground tunnels.

The bakers of Vienna, who worked in the basement storerooms, heard the sound of digging and alerted the cities army.

For their vigilance, the bakers received high honours and thanks for their assistance in outwitting the Turks. In celebration, they baked their bread in the shape of a crescent moon—the symbol of the Ottoman Empire. After the Turks were defeated, it became custom to serve morning coffee with the crescent-shaped pastry!

The legend continues to say that over a hundred years later, Marie Antoinette introduced the pastry to the French who dubbed it a “croissant”.

A more believable and documented origin story though tells of an Austrian military officer, August Zang. In 1839 he opened a Viennese bakery in Paris introducing France to Viennese baking techniques and baked goods. The bakery, Boulangerie Viennoise, was quickly imitated and its Austrian kipfel became the French croissant. And the rest is, as they say, history.

However it came to be, whoever lays claim to its creation, shouldn’t really matter. Today we just eat and enjoy croissants and be thankful for their existence.

:croissant: Saturday! :+1:

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#103

Ermagurd! I lurve kwasunt.

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#104

When my daughter was very young “croissant” was one of those words she struggled to pronounce properly, so we started to refer to them as “Grumpy Debbies” for a while - they were “cross aunts”. :grinning:

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#105
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#106

Food Lover’s Market had a special of 4 cross aunts for R25 today. Somehow I had the self control to not eat them all at once.

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#107

:wave: Good morning! :cloud_with_rain:

It’s Sunday, 31 January 2021 (W4/D31)

Today is:

:star: Backward Day

It’s yaD drawkcaB, or as it’s known in the standard world, Backward Day. The day where the world gets turned upside down and inside becomes outside, day becomes night, and we start at the end. Well, at least in concept. Please don’t attempt to do anything dangerous backwards! Like driving in reverse. Or wiring a plug backwards!

Backward Day isn’t just a day of silliness, but of mental revolution.

It was created by Megan Scott and Sarah Miller back in 1961. On the 29th of January, they were thinking about making arts and crafts while they were busy on the Miller family farm milking the cows. This is when they had an idea. Later on in the evening, they sat down together and wrote down some rules. It was not long before the idea got out and reached all of the people in the town. When the two women were walking around two days later, on the 31st of January, they noticed that everyone was doing things backwards.

Celebrating Backward Day is easy—do things backwards, or sdrawkcab, but only if it’s safe to do so, and you aren’t going to cause harm to yourself or anyone else.

  • Wear your outfit backwards or inside out, and if you can, talk and write backwards.
  • Go to bed in the morning and start working in the evening, have dinner in the morning and breakfast in the evening, and have dessert first during all your meals.
  • Talk to people with your back towards them. Just make sure you let them know you are celebrating Backward Day, so they don’t think you are rude.
  • Say goodbye to people when you meet them, and hello when you depart.
  • Go out the back door
  • Add coffee to your milk.
  • Add ice cream to your chocolate.
  • Do your work in reverse order.
  • Answer the phone with “Goodbye”.
  • Write your name backward.
  • Write an entire sentence backward.
  • Watch a movie in reverse.
  • Read a book starting with the last page.

Have a fantastic yadnuS! :+1:

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#108

Backward Day shouldn’t be confused with the recently observed Opposite Day (25 January).

On Opposite Day you might start your day with a cold shower as opposed to your normal hot shower. On Backward Day we reverse the order of things, so we’d end our day with our shower.

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#109

What if you shower in the morning AND evening?! :astonished:

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#110

:thinking:
Walk in and out of the shower backwards.
Rinse first, then soap up :grinning:
Condition first, shampoo after.
Towel off in reverse to how you normally do.

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#111

:wave: Good morning! :cloud_with_rain:

It’s Monday, 01 February 2021

(W5/D32/8.8%/333 rem)

Today is:

:star: Serpent Day :snake:

Snakes alive, it’s Serpent Day! And whilst me and Indy Jones and millions more are not huge fans, today is about highlighting the significant role serpents play in human culture and history, and their ecological importance. It’s also about helping folks like me overcome our fears, if only for a moment or two.

The difference between Serpent and Snake? When used as nouns, serpent means a snake, whereas snake means a legless reptile of the sub-order serpentes with a long, thin body and a fork-shaped tongue.

The serpent is an animal that has been used to symbolize evil across a lot of cultures and religions. However, it has also been associated with fertility and medicine as well. There are a lot of tales and legends that refer to the serpent. Of course, these are not merely mythical creatures. In fact, there are more than 3,000 species of snakes across the Earth. The green anaconda is the heaviest, the reticulated python is the longest, and the Barbados thread snake is the smallest, at roughly only four inches. Serpent Day is designed to raise awareness about the serpent.

The symbology typically associated with the serpent include vengefulness and vindictiveness, medicine and poison, guardianship, and fertility and rebirth. In modern times, the serpent can be associated with political propaganda and modern medicine. Serpent Day gives you the opportunity to delve deeper into this creature and find out more about what it means for different people all over the world, as well as the role that it has played in history too.

You don’t need to go out and start cuddling with cobras to acknowledge Serpent Day. You could spend time learning a little more about serpents from behind the safety of your screen. This Google overview even allows you to get up close and personal with a 3D version of a ball python. Visit the 3D view on your mobile and you’ll be able to bring the python into your room at life size using AR. It’s pretty damn freaky!

Alternatively, you could spend some time learning about the significant symbolization and mythology associated with the serpent.

This makes for fascinating reading, as the serpent has been a prominent figure different religions and mythology from Christianity to Tribal African, from Ancient Greece to Native America, from Norse to Aboriginal.

However you decide to celebrate the legless beasts, make it a marvelous Monday. :+1:

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The 10,000 Best Forum Posts on the Internet Right Now! (Part 1)
#112

Frankie has an AR guest over for breakfast


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#113

See that is just a nope

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#114

See, I don’t get the 3D or AR option. I clicked onthat link and just took me to a search result of “snake”. Perhaps due to using Firefox.

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#115

Could be phone related maybe. I see and can access the option in Firefox:

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#116

Even more likely
 I realize now that clicking the View in 3D link opens the AR snake in the Google app. Do you have that installed on your phone? Maybe the link only shows up if you have the Google app installed?

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#117

Look out kitty!

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#118

One of the greatest memes of all time:

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#119

I have that and use it regularly. Hmm
 will try this out with Chrome and see what happens.

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#120

Worked in the Google Now app. :slight_smile:

Son thought it was quite cool.

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#121

:wave: Good morning! :cloud_with_rain:

It’s Tuesday, 02 February 2021

(W5/D33/332 rem)

Today is:

:star: World Play Your Ukulele Day

Everyone loves the sound of a guitar, it’s true, but those who discount the ukulele based on its size just don’t understand how amazing a little sound can be. It’s got a lovely, soft little voice that fills you with joy, and there’s hardly a person who can keep their hands off them, even if they haven’t a clue how to play.

Thankfully, there’s no obligation that you actually know how to play ukulele on Play Your Ukulele Day (although it is a bonus if you do!) Just pick up and play it all day long!

The holiday was first celebrated in 2011. Since its inception, the holiday is celebrated all around the world under the slogan bring the world together, four strings at a time.

A ukulele, also sometimes called a uke, is a four-stringed instrument that was first popularized in Hawaii in the late 19th century. The instrument was a version of the machete (machete de braga), a four-stringed instrument native to the Madeira region of Portugal. It is thought that the ukulele was created by Portuguese immigrants to Hawaii.

The word ukulele in Hawaiian means jumping flea. It is thought that the instrument was so named because of the way the players fingers jumped around the strings.

Any uke players around? Drop a link to your YouTube channel or SoundCloud account and let us hear. :grinning:

Have a totally tuneful Tuesday! :+1:

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