DIANE'S CORNER ... Celebrate Baby Day

A baby fills a place in your heart that you never knew was empty.

There’s a moment in everyone’s life when they know that the days ahead of them will never be the same. That moment is when their first child is born, while there are those who have sworn themselves to a life without children of their own (and more power to them) those who choose to have a child feel that the birth of their first is the most important day of their lives. Baby Day celebrates this little bundles of joy and all the wonders that come with them, and maybe a few of the trials.

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History of Baby Day

Baby Day was established to celebrate the smallest members of our species, and the wonders and joys they face as they grow up. Growing up isn’t always easy, and that’s why these wee travelers have parents to help them traverse the challenging road ahead. Children come in all shapes and sizes and represent a new beginning and a wonderful innocence in the world, and we can learn as much from them as they can learn from us. After all, while they come into the world free of knowledge, they also come into the world free from preconceptions, cynicism, and prejudice. Would that we could all be so unburdened.

Whether you choose to have one child or many, becoming a parent is not an adventure for the faint of heart. Every day will see you having your preconceptions challenged, and your ideas about the world questioned with the never ending series of ‘why’s’ they’ll bring. Further, a sense of selflessness tends to come to those who have children, as everything in their lives begins to focus on these little humans.

thanks for the pics, Valerie, Canadian Correspondent

Word of the Day

Disneyfy

US Postal Service, 1968

MEANING:

verb tr.:
1. To sanitize, romanticize, or simplify something to make it more palatable for mass consumption.
2. To turn something of historical or cultural importance into trivial entertainment.

ETYMOLOGY:

After The Walt Disney Company, founded by Walt Disney (1901-1966), known for its films and theme parks. Many popular fairy tales shown in Disney films actually have much grimmer stories. Earliest documented use: 1965. See also, Mickey Mouse.

USAGE:

“One of my biggest problems with human meat consumption is the perverted way we collude in sanitizing and Disneyfying it: those boards outside butcher’s shops in which a smiley pig in a striped apron and hat holds aloft a tray of chops. He’s thrilled to be serving up himself see! WTF is all that about? Take the national outcry when Marcus, a school lamb raised by children, was slaughtered and his meat shoved in the school raffle. This is traumatising, said parents. Children should be protected from such brutal reality. Why? Everyone who eats meat should be required to visit a slaughterhouse and then if they still want to eat it at least it’s an informed decision.”
Carol Midgley; Don’t Hate Me Because I Refuse to Eat Meat; The Times (London, UK); Nov 19, 2013.

“An international headhunt to find an archaeologist able to entice more tourists to the Colosseum, the Forum, and Palatine Hill has prompted a furious reaction from critics who fear the sites will be Disneyfied.”
Tom Kington; Anger over Plans to Disneyfy the Colosseum; The Australian (Sydney); Jan 13, 2017.

Idiom of the Day

Fever pitch -

Meaning - When a feeling is very intense and exciting, it is said to be at a fever pitch.

Example - His love for music had reached a fever pitch before he became a world known musician.

This Day in History

1670 - The Hudson Bay Company was founded by England's King Charles II.

1853 - Franconi’s Hippodrome opened at Broadway and 23rd Street in New York City.

1885 - The magazine "Good Housekeeping" was first published.

1887 - Hannibal W. Goodwin applied for a patent on celluloid photographic film. This is the film from which movies are shown.

1902 - "A Trip to the Moon," the first science fiction film was released. It was created by magician George Melies.

1938 - Ella Fitzgerald recorded "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" with Chick Webb’s band.

1939 - Lou Gehrig set a new major league baseball record when he played in his 2,130th game. The streak began on June 1, 1925.

1941 - The Federal Communications Commission agreed to let regular scheduling of TV broadcasts by commercial TV stations begin on July 1, 1941. This was the start of network television.

1969 - The ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) made its maiden voyage.

1974 - The filming of "Jaws" began in Martha's Vineyard, MA.

1977 - Eric Clapton recorded "Wonderful Tonight."

1994 - Nelson Mandela claimed victory after South Africa's first democratic elections.

2002 - It was reported that Phyllis Diller had retired from touring.

DAILY SQU-EEK

If You Were Born Today, May 2:

Down to earth, practical, and responsible, you are a hard worker (some might say a workaholic!) with a strong will. A calm and capable aura surrounds you. Security and stability are what you crave most, and while you are generally very practical, you set your sights high. You would rather have a peaceful existence than worry too much about standing out. Famous people born today:

1729 Catherine the Great [Catherine II], German Empress of Russia (1762-96), born in Stettin, Kingdom of Prussia (d. 1796)

1737 William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Prime Minister of Great Britain (1782-83), born in Dublin, Kingdom of Ireland (d. 1805)

1797 Abraham Gesner, Canadian geologist (inventor of kerosene), born in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia (d. 1864)

1844 Elijah McCoy, Canadian-American inventor of African descent, notable for his 57 US patents (lubrication of steam engines), born in Colchester, Ontario (d. 1929)

1887 Eddie Collins, Hall of Fame baseball infielder (White Sox, A's) and manager, born in Millerton, New York (d. 1951)

1892 Manfred von Richthofen [The Red Baron], German World War I fighter ace, born in Wrocław, Poland (d. 1918)

1903 Benjamin Spock, American pediatrician (Common Sense Book of Baby Care), born in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 1998)

1972 The Rock [Dwayne Johnson], American professional wrestler and actor, born in Hayward, California

READERS INFO

1.

1519 -

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519)

2.
1611 -
TODAY: In 1611, The King James Bible is published for the first time in London, England, by printer Robert Barker.

3.

SEEfest 2019

May 1 - 8, 2019 | Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles’ South East European Film Festival, or SEEFest, is a cinematic showcase of the region between Western Europe and the Middle East. The festival illustrates the cultural diversity of Eastern Europe through screenings of features, shorts and documentaries sharing a wide range of perspectives and experiences, many of which reflect on the region’s challenging political landscape. In addition to film screenings, the festival hosts a business conference and retrospectives, creating a forum for cultural exchange.

further information: SEEfest in Los Angeles May 1-8, Tickets Now on Sale

4.

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 2019

Apr 26 - May 5, 2019 | New Orleans, LA

Jazz fan or not, the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is the place to celebrate music. During the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May, the Big Easy opens to the page in its history book that’s filled with tribal African beats, harmonic church hymns, and American pop music, filling 12 stages with everything from jazz and blues to rock and folk. This soulful festival has a relaxed vibe, perfect if you want to experience New Orleans culture without the madness of Mardi Gras.

further information: New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

Pictures of the day

When added to glass, thorium dioxide helps increase its refractive index and decrease its dispersion. Such glass finds applications in high-quality lenses for cameras and scientific instruments. The radiation from these lenses can darken them and turn them yellow over a period of years and degrade film, but the health risks are minimal. Yellowed lenses may be restored to their original colourless state by lengthy exposure to intense ultraviolet radiation. Thorium dioxide has since been replaced by rare-earth oxides such as lanthanum oxide in almost all modern high-index glasses, as they provide similar effects and are not radioactive. This picture shows a yellowed thorium dioxide lens (left), a similar lens partially de-yellowed with ultraviolet radiation (centre) and a lens without yellowing (right).

A WATCHTOWER FOR GOLDFISH