#bluff of la crosse

[wisconsinphotoslol]

[miyin2]

Ruta 31 Día 2: Grandad Bluff Park, McGilvray Seven Bridges Road, Myrick Park, Pettibone Beach

En nuestro segundo y último día en La Crosse decidimos regresar al parque Grandad Bluff, esta vez para poder apreciarlo, y sus alrededores, a plena la luz del día.  Aunque nosotros guiamos hasta la cima, donde hay estacionamiento, también se puede hacer senderismo y subir el parque caminando. Y como el día anterior, las vistas desde el mirador del parque fueron brutales. Pudimos ver con más…

[driftlessdiscoveries]

[imaginesomethingrand]

[mouseandboo]

Postcrossing US-8575016 by Gail Anderson Via Flickr: Postcard with a photo of Grandad Bluff near La Crosse, Wisconsin. Sent by a Postcrossing member who lives in that area.

[jaegeraether]

Sunsets and footballers (Part 42)

Alexia Putellas x Character (9)

Masterlist (other parts here)

((**Mentions of Lucy/YFN.* *What happens when two dominant people start falling for each other? This... :')* *I think this is my favourite chapter so far...**))

Alexia had her arms crossed over her body as she watched Lucy and her girlfriend through the glass at the airport. Lucy was the type of person to be so brutal on the field, so dedicated in her work, and so unapologetically independent. There were occasions where she was excited enough for physical contact with people, though they were rare, because that was the soft side of her that you only see if you truly knew her well. Even then, she hid it extremely well, even when she was with Keira.

Not now though. Alexia watched Lucy and YFN move like there was a cord connected between them, their movements naturally synced and complementing each other. And then there were the looks, the longing, the love, the hopeless expressions that were exchanged with smiles and blushes, many of which were one staring without the other noticing. It made Alexia feel a lot of things to see them like this. To see Lucy be so happy, so touchy, so in love. It now made sense to her why Lucy was always lost in a daydream since she’d returned from the last international break. Because she was always thinking about her; because this was one of those things you only see in movies or read about in poetry.

“They are cute, no?”

Alexia flinched at the voice which was a lot closer than she expected. She turned to Ridley who was leant against her car, hands clasped casually behind her back as she studied Alexia’s face. Her famous all-too-neutral expression usually helped her disguise her emotions, yet she felt Ridley could see right through it. And she could. Just the slightest hint of downturned eyebrows, her mouth set a little too hard, and the biggest giveaway, her eyes. Alexia’s eyes were like an open book for her, betraying her deepest feelings, and right now she could see…longing.

“I guess.”

“I prefer absolutes.”

Alexia raised an eyebrow, her face otherwise staying the same. “Is there a way to absolutely tell if tonight is going to be awkward between the two of us?”

Ridley smiled and Alexia watched the scar on her cheek shift with the movement of her face. “Awkward is fun, no?” She pushed off from the car and opened the door, gesturing Alexia in as if she were a chauffeur. “La Reina.”

Alexia looked at the fact that she’d opened the rear car door, and not the front. She was unsure if Ridley expected her to call her bluff, but she did anyways. She slid into the back seat as if she were an actual Queen, and Ridley an actual chauffeur. Bluff called. Alexia watched a smile creep over her face at her unexpected cheekiness as she closed the door. Alexia 1, Ridley 0.

“Ridley! It’s been too long! How are you?” The restaurant owner was gushing over the couple as they came in. “And I see your taste in women is impeccable, how lucky we are for you to bring the la Reina to our little restaurant.”

Ridley shared a grin and a polite half-hug with him. Did she know everyone? “Emiliano, I hope your family are well. Yes, I’ve been busy. I took a few contracts in Dubai recently so I’ve been gone for most of the year there.”

Alexia’s interest peaked at that. That’s where she’d been?

“My daughter wants to do that one day too. She’s so excited! Won’t shut up about it. Oh well, I’m glad you’re back. You look beautiful, as do you, Miss Putellas. As luck would have it, I have your favourite table free! Follow me.”

Usually Alexia was the centre of attention. The one who lead the way and had to do all of the talking and pleasantries. Here with Ridley she felt the opposite and it was…incredibly refreshing. Alexia followed closely behind Ridley, studying her back as she walked with such confidence. They reached her ‘favourite table’ which sported a stunning view of the city, but also retained a little privacy from half of the restaurant. In addition to that, she couldn’t help but realise how humble Emiliano had been when he’d said ‘little restaurant’. It looked and felt Michelin Star. Emiliano shared a gesture with Ridley that she didn’t see, and he stepped back as Ridley took his place to push Alexia’s chair in behind her. Another new fact about Ridley she’d just learnt. Chivalry. Alexia 1 – Ridley 1.

Ridley sat opposite her and pulled her own seat in. Alexia watched the two exchange a few more pleasantries and small talk before he gave them the chef specials and recommendations and left with a smile. The restaurant was so nice that the menus didn’t have prices. Cost was never a factor for Alexia anymore, though she felt like it helped her get to know the woman opposite her a little more. Gone were the days of the mysterious woman from the bar. Or so she thought.

They weren’t speaking, though it wasn’t uncomfortable. In fact, Alexia felt very comfortable, even with the astonishingly distracting tension between the two. If Ridley felt it, she hid it well. Alexia stared at the menu, not really seeing the words until two fingers gripped the top of her menu and gently lowered it so she could see her eyes.

“Are you going to hide behind your menu all night?”

“I was considering it.” She murmured, embarrassed she’d just been called out. Usually Alexia was the cool, calm person in control.

“And deprive me of those eyes?”

There’s that cheeky audacity. She made it worse by keeping that eye contact, making Alexia feel seen. And surprisingly safe also.

Alexia thought it best to not encourage her. “Any suggestions?”

“The salmon. I dreamt about it for days after.”

Everything sounded so flirty from her mouth. Perhaps it was.

“Okay.” She said and put her menu down as if to show she was done hiding. “And for you?”

Ridley hadn’t even opened her menu.

“Emiliano suggested the sirloin. Are you okay with wine during your season?”

“Si.”

Ridley raised her hand without her elbow leaving the table, and a server appeared, as if she’d been watching. Ridley handed her both menus and ordered for both of them with a wine pairing. Alexia noticed the girl staring at Ridley as if she was in love with her, or as if they’d had sex. After a few more seconds, she would have put money on it being the latter. Her emotions were poorly covered with longing looks and presumably old memories. Ridley’s expression, however, didn’t change. It was neutral, polite, unbothered. Usually in a situation like this, the person would be extra cold, or awkward, or making it obvious that it had meant nothing to them. Ridley did none of those things because she actually cared. Alexia had noticed that about her. She was so aware of people’s feelings, her intelligence shining through and although she had a perfectly composed self, that deep part of her could be brought out. She’d seen it in the worry in her eyes last night. She’d seen it in her amused expression in the rear-view as she and YFN had their little back and forth in the car. She’d seen it in the melancholy look that appeared for a split second when Alexia had said she was going to spend Christmas with her family.

When the server was gone, Ridley’s attention turned back to her date and just when Alexia thought she’d say something teasing, she did the opposite.

“I apologise for last night, Alexia. I…mishandled the entire situation. I won’t give you any excuses. Simply, you deserved better.”

It was short and eloquent. Not riddled with personal wants and needs and reasons and excuses. Just a genuine apology. Unfortunately, that made Ridley even more attractive to her than she already was.

“I accept your apology. Thank you for saying that.”

She wondered if that was it. If that was all Ridley wanted from their dinner tonight. She really just wanted to get to know her better, and she didn’t know why.

“Can I ask you something personal?”

“Sure, I’ll try my best to answer it.”

Alexia hesitated, which she rarely did. “In the car when you asked me about Christmas, you seemed upset. Why?”

Ridley stared into her eyes as if she were wondering how honest she should be. “Because I don’t have a family. I have YFN and her nan and her brother, but we’re not biologically related.”

No family? “Why..?”

“It would dampen the mood of tonight.”

“I want to know. Besides, what do you expect from tonight?”

“I expect to have dinner with you and apologise. I’d say we’re off to a great start.”

“Ridley-”

Ridley’s eyes flashed something unknown. It was the first time she’d heard her name from Alexia’s lips.

“I’m much more than my past.”

Alexia knew that, of course, but could also tell it was Ridley’s way of asking her to stop. So she did.

“I know you are.”

Before Ridley could respond, the server was back with the wine. She held it up for Ridley to look at and she tasted it like a wine connoisseur before she accepted it. Alexia noticed the server intentionally brushing Ridley’s fingers with her own, hoping for a reaction. Most people would have reacted to the touch, but Ridley remained indifferent and polite.

“I have another question.”

“By all means.”

One of the benefits of them both having dominant personalities was their ability to be straight to the point and honest.

“What do you want from me?”

Ridley took a sip while she thought. “In general or tonight?”

“Both.”

“Tonight I wanted to apologise and make sure you have a nice meal after your game. In general, I’m not entirely sure.”

She was unsure what she wanted from her?

“Last night you said a few things I’d like clarification on.”

Ridley gave her a look that said she already knew what those things were. “I’ll do my best.”

“Four questions. Firstly, you said that you ‘come here to see’ me?”

“To the bar, yes. Exactly how you go just to see me.”

It wasn’t cockiness, it was an observant fact. She knew she was going just for her? Alexia felt herself getting shy. She was rarely shy. She pushed that aside.

“That’s fair,” she murmured. “You also said ‘I don’t think of you like that’.”

“I don’t. You’re much more than a body to me.”

“What am I?” It wasn’t one of her questions but she couldn’t help but whisper it.

Ridley frowned. “I’m not sure yet.”

“Is that why you ‘don’t know how to give me anything else’?”

“I don’t date, Alexia.”

“And you just assume that I do?”

“Do you not?”

She frowned. She did. “You didn’t give me a choice.”

“There was no choice to offer. We didn’t know each other. We still don’t.”

“We could have changed that if you hadn’t left.”

Those words hung in the air between them. Ridley had left, and she knew it would have hurt her, but she assumed it would hurt her less than actually getting to know her for who she was. Ridley didn’t open up to people. Better to leave than break her heart.

The server arrived again during their silence, and placed their food in front of them, giving an extra sweet smile to Ridley. She pretended not to see it, her eyes on Alexia.

“I’m excited for you to try that, the chef is incredible.” Ridley’s eyes flickered to Alexia’s dish while Alexia continued to stare at her.

“Why did you leave?”

She sighed and caught Alexia’s eye again.

“Because I’m not good for you.”

“Why?”

“Trust me, Alexia. I’m not good for anybody.”

“You’re good enough for the women you fuck.” Alexia’s jealousy hit like a slap in the face. Usually people enjoy seeing their partners jealous for them. Ridley, however, didn’t want to see Alexia upset in any way.

“They mean nothing to me.”

Questions swam in Alexia’s eyes. “Were you trying to push me away…?”

That surprised her. Alexia’s jealousy hadn’t hindered her confidence. She knew her worth. It was an alarmingly attractive quality for Ridley. “Yes.”

Alexia was grateful for the fact that Ridley didn’t lie. She’d answer honestly or not at all. “Why?”

“I told you why.”

“You never gave me a chance…”

Again, those words hung in the air and the heartbreak on Alexia’s face almost broke her. Ridley had never felt like that before. She never let herself get close enough to. “I’m not good for you..” she repeated as if she hadn’t understood the first time. It was a weak argument.

“And you’ve just made that decision for me then? I don’t get to decide what is and isn’t good for me? What I do and don’t want?” Alexia was a softy at heart and although she was fierce with her words, unfallen tears were building up in her eyes. “You may be used to being in control and telling people what to do, but you don’t get to do that with me. Not right now.”

It was like two dominant animals butting heads. Both knew their worth, and Ridley had absolutely done the wrong thing by shutting Alexia out. Though she’d told herself she hadn’t owed her anything, she knew she did from that very first moment they’d locked eyes in the bar almost a year ago. Everything she’d done from then had been for her, and without her having a say in the matter. She hadn’t realised how selfish she’d been. She’d convinced herself she was doing the right thing by her and her feelings, without considering her actual feelings, because Alexia had been just as involved as she was. She’d underestimated that.

“You’re right.”

Alexia was also surprised at how easy she’d admitted that. She opened her mouth to reply and was cut off.

“Eat your food before it’s cold. Then we’ll talk.”

That was a good example of the type of control Alexia could accept from her. But not her avidly taking away her choices regarding her emotions.

The salmon was incredible, and she told her just as much. Ridley was happy at that. The wine pairing went down perfectly with their food and soon enough, the plates were replaced with the dessert menu.

“I can’t…” Alexia started to say before she was distracted reading the menu.

“We can share.”

Their eyes met, both happy at the compromise. Alexia smiled and Ridley’s heart almost stopped at that. She was stunning. She didn’t know if she could tear her eyes from her lips, but luckily she was torn away by the server again.

“What can I get for you two?”

“We’re sharing.” She said, clapping her menu closed and handing it over, looking at the Barcelona Captain. “It’s your choice.”

The server looked a little upset by that, and almost unwillingly turned her attention to Alexia.

“The crema catalana, please.”

She gave her menu to the server who nodded and left. Only then did she see the grin on Ridley’s face, and couldn’t help her face reflecting it.

“What?”

“That’s my favourite. Anything with custard, or similar to it.”

It was another rare fact that Ridley happily shared with her. She made a mental note of it.

“Can we continue?”

“If you’d like.”

“I would.” Alexia was suddenly a little shy again. “You admit that I’m right?”

“Yes.”

“Care the expand on that?”

“It was…selfish of me to make decisions for you. I convinced myself it was what was best for you.”

“And if you hadn’t thought it was what was best for me?”

“I’d have fucked you many, many times, in many different ways by now.”

The comment was crass, but her expression wasn’t. She meant it.

“You don’t date…” She repeated from Ridley’s earlier statement.

“No.”

“Why?”

“Many reasons.”

“Such as?”

Ridley sighed. She obviously wasn’t going to let it go. “I’m…broken. I can’t love.  I discovered that when I was younger and made the mistake of being with people who I knew would fall for me and breaking their hearts. I didn’t want to do that to you.”

“You’ve never loved anyone?”

Ridley’s melancholy flashed across her face briefly. “I love YFN. I loved my brother.”

Loved. Alexia didn’t even have to ask the question.

“He’s dead.”

“And your family?”

Her jaw flexed. “The same.”

Alexia’s heart dropped. No wonder she’d looked so sad when Alexia had said she was spending Christmas with her family. She thought that ‘I don’t have a family’ meant they’d chosen to not recognise her for her sexuality or didn’t get along. She never assumed they were gone.

“I’m so-”

“Please don’t. I don’t want pity. It happened. It’s done.”

She left it for a minute before she whispered the next question. “Is that why you think you’re broken?”

“Alexia, I don’t want to talk about my past, or my faults tonight, please. I just want to have dinner with you.”

Her heart softened up at that admission. “We can do that…”

“Good.”

The crema catalana arrived then, with two spoons. Ridley picked hers up and noticed Alexia hadn’t taken hers. She was lost in thought. She took a breath and reached out, her fingers lightly touching one of Alexia’s hands on the table. That broke her thought as her eyes snapped up to meet Ridley’s.

“I’ll allow you one more question before we eat.”

It took her a few seconds to decide on which question to ask, Ridley’s fingertips warm and soft and distracting.

“Why did you leave?” She whispered.

“Because I was scared I would let you in if I stayed.”

Alexia inhaled sharply, blinking tears away. She wasn’t crazy. They did have a strong connection. And Ridley had just admitted that, unashamedly. Alexia knew how hard that must have been for her.

“Now eat, la Reina.”

The two ate dessert, unable to stop their satisfied hums as they did so, because it tasted incredible. Alexia made a note of the restaurant. She wanted to come back and bring her entire family and friends. As she thought that, the idea of Ridley being alone in the restaurant tugged at her heartstrings. Of course she’d never be alone. She’d be with a girl or a colleague, but that didn’t stop the fact that she’d be alone and would feel like it. Because no one can fill that empty space of family.

They finished quickly, Ridley paying for the meal before Alexia had a chance to argue. They said their goodbyes to Emiliano and this time when they reached the car, Ridley held the passenger door open for her.

Alexia’s grandmother’s house wasn’t far from the restaurant, and the drive was a comfortable, safe silence with Spanish music playing in the background softly. They’d both asked enough questions for the night.

As they arrive out the front, Ridley opened her door for her, and took her overnight duffle out, walking her up to the front door. The porch light was a dull yellow which made the gold flecks in Ridley’s eyes stand out even brighter. They shared a wordless smile until the sound of laughing filtered out through one of the front windows, and Ridley’s smile faltered a little. Alexia wanted to hug her, to kiss her, to invite her into her welcoming family and make her feel loved. All of that would have been too much though and besides, Ridley escaped before she had a chance to do anything.

She leant down and her lips brushed her cheek in a soft kiss. Alexia leant into her, and they stood like that for a little before Ridley was gone without a look back.

[moorheadthanyoucanhandle]

DRAG INTERACTIONS

Now streaming:

Makeup--Sasha is a quiet young French chef who has moved from Paris to London to start work as an online food critic. We see that his hand is afflicted at times with cramps and tremors from some neurological problem; presumably this is what necessitated the career shift. He's rented a room from Pete, a friendly if somewhat aggressively brusque young stockbroker.

Director Hugo André plays Sasha; he co-wrote the script with Will Masheter, who plays Pete. The story doesn't go any direction you're very likely to guess. It seems, initially, as if Sasha will be the focus, but instead he's mostly the observer of the drama.

The superficially "manly" Pete, it turns out, is an aspiring drag burlesque performer, unbeknownst to his toxically masculine work circle. He senses a sympathetic ear in his new housemate, inviting Sasha to see him perform in cabaret, and sharing the motivations and secret identity with the bemused fellow that he hides from his coworkers. The reserved Sasha is initially taken aback, unsure how to respond to Pete's bluff overtures and startling, unsolicited candor. Very gradually, however, the friendship deepens.

That's pretty much all there is to this low-budget festival fave, but it's well-acted, and it has a certain authenticity and unembarrassed sensitivity that can't be dismissed. It insists we take Pete's emotional courage seriously; you've never seen a drag movie this free of camp.

And this is probably necessary because, alas, it's politically timely. Back in 1995, I remember a friend of mine rolling his eyes elaborately at a poster for To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, a routine comedy distinguished (aside from its peculiar title) only because it featured Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo as drag queens traveling cross-country. My friend wondered aloud if anybody still thought drag was scandalous.

Back then, I might have thought he had a point. 1978's La Cage aux Folles and its American version The Birdcage (released the year after To Wong Foo) and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert as well the rise of RuPaul all seemed to suggest that drag had attained relatively mainstream status. But nearly three decades later, reactionaries in parts of this country have picked drag, of all freaking things, as a target for ginned-up phony social and political outrage, and it appears that we'll all have to stick up for drag queens after all.

Similarly, back in the '90s I might have wondered if the sneering mockery and professional injustice that we see Pete subjected to in Makeup when his avocation is revealed was exaggerated and melodramatic. In these retrograde times, it seems all too plausible.

[nofimsopoderiaserclaro]

Fragments 21.02

Fragment 1: 

The most suffocating tentacles are those of absence. I suffer not of sadness, but of fear. When happiness and excitability retreat into their slumbers, it is always she who greets me. Platitude: we fear that which we do not understand, and since I do not understand the language and cadence of my thoughts nor the flickers and churns of my emotions, I freeze. It is not a small fall into the darkness of depression, but the unveiling of the terrible distance between me and myself, between the one who acts and the one who is. All because the lightbulb went out for a bit… I become conscious of a dark room that shouldn’t be there in the first place, a room I haven’t learnt to cross without sight; I feel like a blind person locked in a strange home.

Fragment 6: 

Maybe my memory suffers no ailment at all. Maybe I am neurologically sane and the actual problem is that I experience no true substance in real time, such that there is nothing to remember in the first place. 

Fragment 2: 

I am careless; things around me crack and creak and fall, as if anticipating my next move and taking it in their own hands. Spilt tea has been bleeding into the veins of my floorboards for over 10 minutes now, because I am scared that the second I stand up I will let go of the little inspiration that was given to me. Beggars can’t be choosers, and when I write all you see are handouts from pity. 

Fragment 3: 

Sitting at this bar, you on the other side of the counter, I notice the ways I come up with to evade the discomfort of carrying this mind around. Separated by varnished wood and taps of undrinkable artisanal beers, against all the evidence presented to me, I assert inconsistently that I feel you towering over me in judging superiority. The counter merely materializes it: you appear as yet another man who I see as infinitely more worthy of experiencing humanity than I will ever be, making this set-up, in my disjointed mind seem, more natural and truer than anything we have ever lived. I yearn for your words of approval fully aware that I will never believe them,  and the strategies I go about to achieve this are the following: 

I write in Portuguese whenever there is a danger that your guise will find itself on my page. In Las Vegas, sitting alone sipping Margaritas in an overpriced bar, I wrote “I am typing this to look wanted”, a performativity which is saddening in how transversally it applies. The tall dark stranger changes, intentions and scenery do to, but my fragmentary prostitution does not. I want you to see me writing, because I wish to be created as a writer through your eyes; yet nothing petrifies me more than the idea that you might see me create in real time… you might call my bluff, and approximate your opinion of me to the one I hold myself. 

Yet you look at me so genuinely kind - they say so too, making it true - …

Fragment 5: 

My genuine opinion about myself is that I am the greatest sponge that ever lived. If I consume, hear, pay attention, I am big and beautiful and bright and textureful. If I don’t, I dry out and am reduced to the size of a kernel. I am ready to be thrown away. 

Fragment 4: 

I wish you hadn’t told me what goes on behind closed eyelids. I cannot accept myself - everything that makes me like you more, makes me like myself less. That is why I always settle for mediocre, and push away brilliant.

What an ugly, selfish feeling. It can only be half the truth. The second part is overbearing: I wish you would tell me what goes on behind closed eyelids every single time. Observing the spectacle of you, accidental master of a world of bright trees and morphing lakes in a perpetual dance, metamorphosis at every given instance, drinking from your humanity as if the elixir of Life came in vials large enough for two, is a gift I am not sure I will ever deserve. 

Out of the bottom of my heart, thank you. For letting me sense, feel, imagine what it could mean to be you. For making me feel like my own way of being is enough, and opening up the perceptive limits I impose on my own experience of the self. Without asking for anything in return but an open heart.  

Fragment 10: 

We breathe through our eyes. We try, delicate and shy, to vocalize the taste of the breaths of the other. We break it down, our sensatory and cerebral souls in a warm tango, auditory every time we get together, but I feel a cold wind in the back of my neck. Whispering in the same voice as the white tunnel, it asks: “What don’t we talk about when we talk about love?”

For instance: I don’t tell you about that foot I always have out the door, calloused from banging too much. That foot that always trips but never falls. 

With the amount of doors my foot has closed on, I wonder if all the times I stubbed my toes were merely practice.

Fragment 7: 

“ I ain’t doing enough, just doing the most.”

Fragment 8: 

I do not call my friends as to keep sacred the opportunity to fetishize my own sadness on the walk home. 

Fragment 9: 

Inês asked me if it is the times that are strange, or if we are strange people experiencing the times. I replied that strangeness is not a property of things. Strangeness is the sensation which arises when the experience of the times is incommensurable with the experience of the self. 

[sohannabarberaesque]

Postcards from Snagglepuss

Onward into the fall

Roll call, as taken by Huckleberry Hound as we were filling the motorhome with diesel fuel:

"OK, let's see here--Yakky Doodle?"

"Here!"

"Chopper?"

"Here!"

"Pixie and Dixie?"

"HERE!" (said in unison, and with a slight singsong)

"Touché Turtle?"

"Present and accounted for!"

"Dum-Dum?"

"Where else could I be if I wasn't here?" (Laughs all around)

Once the tank was fuelled up and things squared away, our motley little motorhome crew were off, heading into our fall adventures as were pretty much a few weeks over the fall with Crazy Claws at his retreat on the legendary artificial waters of Artificial Lake Delton by Wisconsin Dells even ... not to mention doing a few preparations for the winter diving experience Huck and I would be having with no less than the Peter Potamus Magic Divers, in the Divers' Delight even (as was formerly the Jolly Rodger from Yogi's Treasure Hunt, which you'll recall Huck and yours truly being among the crew of).

And perhaps one of my beloved favourite routings, along Highway 61 no less, the Great River Road even in her afternoon splendour of a mild autumnal-like afternoon as was enough to see the windows open and get some fresh air besides ... the splendour being somewhat evident as we spent a few minootas admiring the view from the Garvin Heights overlook at Winona. And you could spot a few tourists in the bargain there, too, and considering that, Chopper had to have Yakky on his shoulder and Huck took up Pixie and Dixie so tourists wouldn't accidntally step on such.

As for the tourists there ... selfie opportunity time in and of itself, with the panorama of Winona and the bluffs on the Wisconsin side below!

As we headed downhill, no less than Yakky Doodle couldn't resist describing the sheer beauty inherent for a late summer's afternoon. Admittedly, it's a little on the early side for fall colour, but you can certainly admit that when the time comes, the sensation therefor is sure to be sensational around these parts!

Arrival in La Crosse, at one of my beloved haunts even, the old North Country Steak Buffet ... as if all-you-can-eat steaks, steakburgers and grilled chicken breast weren't good enough, plenty of buffet-type schtick as well. Soup and salad bar, Mexican station, even dessert stations as well--which, even for that hilariously clumsy turtle known as Touché, couldn't be more irresistible. Touché's boon compadre, Dum-Dum, for his part, couldn't resist waxing amusingly in his own way about houseboating it with Bristlehound on the Mississippi, just partaking of tavern-style food (especially Friday fish fry) and relaxing the night on a sandbar somewhere on the river ... and Huckleberry taking stock of the halfway legendary home cooking on the buffet, even to where it meant seasoning the macaroni and cheese with Canadian steak seasoning.

"Which," Huck remarked, "does add some interesting flavour in its own way which common salt and pepper don't seem to provide."

Chopper, for his part, couldn't help but mention where some especially worthwhile seasonings sold under the name Pleasoning came out of that wonderful town, and might it be worthwhile, once our buffet was out of the way, to stock up on some ... request granted, even if the place that makes Pleasoning was starting to wind things down for the day. Not to mention picking up such not only for the road, but also to surprise Crazy Claws as well. And since the idea was to select only one especially worthwhile and versatile variety--well, you'll probably want to wait for the next such missive in this space to learn all.

*************

@warnerbrosentertainment @a-gang-of-silly-bananas @jellystone-enjoyer @iheartgod175 @archive-archives @themineralyoucrave @thylordshipofbutts @princessgalaxy505 @thebigdingle @screamingtoosoftly @warnerbros-blog1 @xdiver71 @theweekenddigest @indigo-corvus @warnerbrosent-blog

[miyin2]

Ruta 31 Día 1: Friendship Gardens, Riverside Park, La Cross Queen tour & Wildlife Refuge

Nos levantamos temprano y ya a las 8am estábamos en el restaurante La Crosse Family Restaurant. Luego de un suculento desayuno nos pusimos en marcha a comenzar nuestro día de turisteo en la ciudad. Nos acercamos al río Mississippi que bordea la ciudad y visitamos los Friendship Gardens que están a orillas del río. Los Friendship Gardens, o Jardines de la Amistad, son una colección de jardines…

[roxie-roo]

Day 10: Friend

The sun was high and the sky was a brilliant blue. Mid-afternoon in the village that resided below Stratos and its grandiose floating islands. There were four of them in the outside seating of the tavern. Of course, there was Joel, without a chair, they'd all agreed he didn't need to break one. The god of thunder had a hand of cards, and was eying them with such an intensity the others weren't sure they'd ever seen before. Then there was Sausage, along for the ride purely for fun of it all. He sat near Scott, the two of them managing quiet conversation as to not distract the two currently playing this little betting game. There was a small stack of valuables on the table, gold, diamonds, emeralds, a few iron ingots, all ready for whoever won this last round. Scott leaned over towards Sausage, playful smirk on his face as he gestured towards Joel.

"You think he's got it this time?"

Sausage could only smile and shake his head in response. "We may never know, he seems pretty confident. Maybe he's got it."

"Full house!" The gossip was stopped momentarily as Joel slammed his hand down and beamed, cockily leaning back and eying his opponent with all the practiced arrogance of a fool who truly thinks he's won. This was, after all, his third game in a row with this opponent, surely he's got it down by now, right?

There was a laugh from the other end of the table. Jimmy, his current opposition, raised an eyebrow as he leaned back in his seat, looking over his cards once again. "Full house, huh? That's pretty damn good..." He commented plainly. That didn't seem to deter Joel, though, Sausage and Scott were watching the sheriff by now. He wasn't usually that calm. Unless he had something up his sleeve.

"Better than you, isn't it?" Joel laughed, arms folded over his chest. "Go on, 'Tim, what've you got?"

"Oh, not much.." Jimmy snorted under his breath. "Jus' a royal flu-"

"Thought so, nothing as good as this!" Joel hardly gave him the time to finish, didn't even process what Jimmy had said at first.

But it hit him, a bit too slowly for the spectators' liking, but it hit him. Jimmy was just sitting there, one leg crossed over the other and a calm smile on his face, though there was a glint of competitive fire in his eyes.

"Wait. What?" Joel blinked, almost forgetting what Jimmy had said. It was then that the blond took his hand and lightly threw it down onto the table, allowing everyone to see that he in fact, had a royal flush hand.

"Hah!" The sheriff cheered, hand curled into a fist excitedly. "Read 'em and weep, boys!"

"What?!" Joel nearly shouted, incredulous about the situation. "How- I- what?!" He stammered, then his head hit the table with a groan of frustration.

Jimmy snorted. "What's th'matt'a Joel? Y'ain't nev'a seen a winnin' hand three times in a row?"

"That's it." Joel huffed, picking his head up from the table with a pout. "I'm done playing."

"Aww,, querido.." Sausage tried his best to keep from laughing, hand against his shoulder somewhat comfortingly. "It's okay.. Lo atraparás la próxima vez, gran bebé..."

And for all of Joel's lack of knowledge when it came to Spanish, he could understand that last part. "I'm not a big baby." He grumbled.

Scott, meanwhile, didn't bother to hide the boisterous laughter, head tossed back and hand in front of his face to shield his eyes from the still glowing sun. "Oh my- that was just priceless! I never knew gods could be such sore losers!"

"Well, when y'play as cocky as he did, his bluff was pretty damn easy to call.." Jimmy shrugged, though his face turned just a slight bit red upon hearing Scott's laughter.

Eventually, Joel was over his loss and the four of them played something else. Scott brought out Uno, and then finally was Joel able to get a win, which he promptly bragged about. Jimmy didn't mind.

It was nice to have friends. It was nice to put the past behind them and just move on for once.

Holding grudges was so tiring.

[gravelish]

Baldwin Hills and Santa Monica (LA)

9 February 2023

This morning was another 30 mile ride (though it took only half the time of the previous one). It was flat, with the exception of the steep climb up to the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook (obvious on the profile), the ascent from the beach to the top of the bluff in Santa Monica, and a few rollers on Northvale Road just north of Culver City on the way back.

I got off to a messy start. My planned route hadn’t synced with my bike computer properly, so I was doing it by feel and with occasional stops to check Google Maps on my phone. It doesn’t help that this part of town has some major arterials that are hard to cross, a light rail line with very few crossings, and that a key bridge over Ballona Creek was completely shut down for construction! But I eventually got myself to Jefferson and warmed up my legs on Hetzler Road (the Baldwin Hills climb).

The views from the overlook were great. Downtown, with snow capped Mount Baldy in the background. The hills north and west of LA, from Malibu to Griffith Park. The ocean in the distance to the west - where I’d be headed next.

My route to the beach was on the bike trail down Ballona Creek, another concrete channel that seems to be more storm sewer than creek. It was pretty busy with dog walkers, parents biking with their kids to school, and occasionally a more serious cyclist out for a morning training ride. The Ballona Creek Trail intersects the bike path that follows the beaches at the south edge of Marina del Ray.

The ride north to Santa Monica was familiar territory from a ride I did back in 2020 (Palos Verdes Peninsula). The trail runs the perimeter of Marina del Ray before joining the beach north through Venice and on to Santa Monica. I left the beach at the Santa Monica Pier and after a little sightseeing, headed east through downtown and picked up the Exposition Corridor Bike Trail that follows the E-Line. It’s a good trail, though it crosses some major arterials. There were always crosswalks and lights, but sometimes there were some awfully long waits. And the trail sort of vanishes in Culver City, although I understand they are working on that.

Probably the diciest part of today’s ride was the final leg on Venice Boulevard - and making the left onto Fairfax. Traffic wasn’t actually too bad and if it had been worse, I probably could have found alternatives. Admittedly, it’s always interesting to be making a complicated left on a busy multi-lane road and be riding next to a self-driving car (but it behaved itself quite well).

[sloshed-cinema]

The Church [La Chiesa] (1989)

Can we just… revoke Italy’s film production license or something? The Italian studio system was rife with bizarre production choices up through the 90s, but despite that there are still some gems. And yet here, Dario Argento proves that while he made some indelible gialli, his writer and producer credit doesn’t always drum up a winner. This is profoundly schlocky religious horror camp, where everything from the story to the performances feel like they’re actively second guessing themselves. It’s a simple enough premise: church built to seal away an ancient demonic energy gets breached, what to do? But there’s something about how it fails to be either a pulpy gore-fest or a tense demonic thriller that boggles the mind. Why do a bunch of people get trapped in the church when its single entry point is sealed? To have a bunch of kills, of course. But aside from motorcycle lady getting pulverized by a subway and the sacristan jackhammering himself to death, it’s all a lot of bluff for little bluster. Just give me some exploding heads or whatever! Instead, we get baffling dialogue choices, like the photographer griping about how somebody blundered through his shot or the art restorer being told it isn’t her responsibility to make structural modifications to the aging cathedral seconds before she promises to do just that. It’s all so halting and stumbling, unsteady on its feet as it staggers across the finish line. We don’t even get to see a satisfying church destruction after the idea of at being built to collapse at the press of a button is foreshadowed so thoroughly. There’s plenty of pleasure in people falling under obviously styrofoam pillars and the like, but given that precious little happens for much of the rest of its runtime, a little more fireworks would be appreciated.

The composer credits for this are truly bonkers. Argento regular Goblin contribute some work, but we also get efforts from venerable American composers and musicians Keith Emerson and Phillip Glass.

THE RULES

SIP

Someone says 'demon'.

Organ music starts to play.

The bishop is hunched over some old document.

A cross or crucifix appears in a scene.

BIG DRINK

Someone uses a magnifying glass.

Frenetic running camera.

[miwisconsin]

¿Sin planes este fin de semana? Le tenemos una agenda imperdible

El último lunes del mes de mayo es un día importante e histórico para los estadounidenses porque conmemora a aquellos héroes que dieron la vida para defender su patria. En 1865, después de finalizar la Guerra Civil, se realizaron homenajes en memoria de los caídos, más tarde se oficializó y hoy es uno de los días más importantes en el calendario del país. Durante el Memorial Day o Día de los Caídos es habitual que los americanos visiten cementerios y entierren frente a las tumbas, banderas en honor a la lucha y entrega de aquellos guerreros que perdieron la batalla por su país. Tradicionalmente, el presidente de Estados Unidos, Joe Biden da un discurso y a las 3:00 pm se invita a hacer un minuto de silencio para reflexionar y honrar la memoria de los caídos. Igualmente, hay un sinnúmero de desfiles protagonizados por las Fuerzas Armadas que son todo un espectáculo. Aquí los horarios y lugares de algunos de los que hay en todo el Estado: Milwaukee: Cementerio Nacional de Madera 9:00 a. m. a 11:00 a. m. 5000 Avenida Nacional Oeste  Cementerio de la casa del bosque 11:00 - 3:30 pm 2405 West Forest Home Avenue West Allis Veterans Memorial Park 11:00 AM – 12:0 6900 W. National Ave Waukesha Prairie Home Cemetery 9:00 am - 12:00 pm 605 S. Prairie Avenue Veterans Park 9:00 am - 12:00 pm 710 N. West Ave  Les Paul Performance Center at Cutler Park 9:00 - 12:00 321 Wisconsin Ave Madison Jardines de la memoria del atardecer 2:00 PM  7302 Mineral Point Road Cross Plains Cámara de Comercio del Área y Legión Americana 9:00 - 4:00 pm Post No. 245, 2217 American Legion   Sin embargo, si usted está buscando otros planes que no tienen nada que ver con el homenaje de los Caídos, Wisconsin ofrece una lista de actividades en las que puede participar, disfrutar y escapar de la rutina:  Jardín Botánico Olbrich 3330 Atwood Ave, Madison www.olbrich.org Miller Brewery Tour 4251 W State St, Milwaukee, WI, United States, Wisconsin www.millerbrewerytour.com Grandad Bluff 3020 Grandad Bluff Rd. La Crosse, WI 54601 https://www.cityoflacrosse.org/your-government/departments/parks-recreation-forestry/parks| Cave Point County Park 5360 Schauer Road, about 8 miles northeast of the Town of Sevastopo lhttps://www.co.door.wi.gov/554/Cave-Point-County-Park Geneva Lake Shore Path 201 Wrigley Drive Lago Lemán, WI 53147 https://www.visitlakegeneva.com/things-to-do/shore-path/   Wisconsin Dells - Mt. Olympus Resorts LLC Apertura del tobogán más grande de Estados Unidos https://www.mtolympuspark.com/   Read the full article

[brookston]

Holidays 4.27

Holidays

Abolition Day (Mayotte)

Autism Super Mom Day

Babe Ruth Day

Battenberg Day

Button Mushroom Day (French Republic)

Celebrate Teen Literature Day

Day of Russian Parliamentarism (Russia)

Day of the Uprising Against the Occupying Forces (Slovenia)

Drone Safety Day

Ed Balls Eve (UK)

Flag Day (Moldova)

427 Day

Freedom Day (South Africa)

Free Feral Cat Spay Day

International Crow and Raven Appreciation Day

International Donor Conception Awareness Day

International Hyena Day

Koninginnedag (King’s Day; Netherlands)

Lapu-Lapu Day (Philippines)

Local Yarn Store Day

Marine Mammal Rescue Day

Matanzas Mule Day

Mayotte National Day

Moehanga Day (UK)

Morse Code Day

National Alicia Day

National Back Office Heroes Day

National Bubble Butt Appreciation Day

National D.J. Day

National Domestic Workers’ Day (Brazil)

National Little Pampered Dog Day

National Patricia Day

National Pimp Day

National Pneumatics Day

National Transportation Safety Day (Iran)

National Veterans' Day (Finland)

New Beginning Day

Poetry Day (Ireland)

Resistance Day (Slovenia)

Rogers Hornsby Day

Sleep Day

State Flag Day (Moldova)

Teach Your Children to Save Day

Tell A Story Day

Treasurer Day (Ukraine)

Trevithick Day (UK)

UnFreedom Day (South Africa)

Victory Day (Afghanistan)

Woody Woodpecker Day

World Bath Bomb Day

World Design Day

World Graphic Design Day

World Tapir Day

Write An Old Friend Today Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Battenberg Day

Chips with Everything Day

Learn To Make An Apricot Cream Pie Day

Marselan Day

National Devil Dog Day

National Gummi Bear Day

National Prime Rib Day

Saison Day (Allagash)

World Marselan Day

4th & Last Saturday in April

Beer Clean Glass Day [4th Saturday]

Bob Wills Day [Last Saturday]

Canadian Independent Bookstore Day (Canada) [Last Saturday]

Celebrate Trails Day [4th Saturday]

Children’s Day (Colombia) [Last Saturday]

Day of Trees (Colombia) [Last Saturday]

Doo Dah Parade Day (Pasadena, California) [Last Saturday]

Eeyore's Birthday Party (Austin, Texas) [Last Saturday]

Go Birding Day [Last Saturday]

Independent Bookstore Day [Last Saturday]

International Marconi Day [Saturday closest to 4.25]

International Sculpture Day [Last Saturday]

International Table Top Day [Last Saturday]

National Day of Puppetry [4th Saturday]

National First Ladies Day [Last Saturday]

National Go Birding Day [Last Saturday]

National Herb Day [Last Saturday; also 1st Saturday in May]

National Kiss of Hope Day [Last Saturday]

National Pool Opening Day [Last Saturday]

National Prepare-A-Thon! Day [Last Saturday; also 9.30]

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day [Last Saturday]

National Rebuilding Day [Last Saturday]

National Sense of Smell Day [Last Saturday]

Penguin Day [Last Saturday]

Save the Frogs Day [Last Saturday]

World Aboriginal and Native Sacred Ceremony and Dance Day [Last Saturday]

World Activism Day [Last Saturday]

World Disco Food Day [Last Saturday]

World Healing Day [Last Saturday]

World Healing Meditation Day [Last Saturday]

World Reiki Day [Last Saturday]

World Sufi Day [Last Saturday]

World Tai Chi & Qigong Day [Last Saturday]

World Thespian Day [Last Saturday]

World Veterinary Day [Last Saturday]

World Yoga Day [Last Saturday]

Weekly Holidays beginning April 27 (4th Week)

Antigua Sailing Week (St. Johns, Antigua, Barbuda) [thru 5.3]

Just Pray No Weekend [4th Saturday] (thru 4.28)

Independence & Related Days

IKwaZulu-Natali (Declared; 1994) [unrecognized]

lundren (a.k.a. Viscounty of lundgren; Declared; 2020) [unrecognized]

Sierra Leone (from UK, 1961)

Togo (from France, 1960)

Festivals Beginning April 27, 2024

The Appomattox Oyster Festival (Concord, Virginia)

Austin Blues Festival (Austin, Texas) [thru 4.28]

Between the Bluffs Beer, Wine & Cheese Festival (La Crosse, Wisconsin)

Cherry Blossom Festoval (Monterey, California) [thru 4.28]

Clayton Art and Wine Festival (Clayton, California) [thru 4.28]

Comic-Con Cape Town (Cape Town, South Africa) [thru 5.1]

Craft Beer Festival (Long Grove, Illinois)

Dessert Wars (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

Downtown Waterloo Sip-n-Stroll (Waterloo, Iowa)

Endless Mountains Maple festival (Troy, Pennsylvania) [thru 4.28]

Florida Taco Battle, A Fiesta Affair! (Boca Raton, Florida)

Gnarly Culpepper Block Party & Brew Fest (Culpepper, Virginia)

Hard-Pressed Cider Fest (Hood River, Oregon)

Lodi Beer Festival & BBQ Championship (Lodi, California)

Maifest (St. Louis, Missouri) [thru 4.28]

Mountain Mushroom Festival (Irvine, Kentucky) [thru 4.28]

National Cornbread Festival (South Pittsburg, Tennessee) [thru 4.28]

New Jersey Folk Festival (New Brunswick, New Jersey)

North Carolina Pickle Festival (Mount Olive, North Carolina)

Oklahoma Renaissance Festival (Muskogee, Oklahoma) [thru 6.2]

Oregon Cheese Festival (Central Point, Oregon) [thru 4.28]

Ozarks Beerfest (Springfield, Missouri)

Riverside Tale Festival (Riverside, California)

Sacramento Grilled Cheese Festival (Sacramento, California) [thru 4.28]

Schubertiade Vorarlberg )Hohenems, Austria) [thru 5.1]

Taste of Claremont (Claremont, California)

Thirsty Orange Brew Extravaganza (Johnson City, Tennessee)

Tweed Run (London, UK)

Waikiki Spam Jam (Waikiki, Hawaii)

Wine Fest (Kemah, Texas)

WineFest (St. Michaels, Maryland) [thru 4.28]

Feast Days

Alan Reynolds (Artology)

Anastasius, Pope (Christian; Confessor)

Anthimus of Nicomedia (Christian; Saint)

Assicus (Christian; Saint)

Beltane Quinoa Salad Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

86400 Seconds Day (Pastafarian)

Ennead Sail Through the Land, The (Ancient Egypt)

Floribert of Liège (Christian; Saint)

Furze-Hopping Event (Shamanism)

George Petty (Artology)

Hanuman Jayanti (Birthday of the Monkey God; Hindu)

John of Constantinople (Christian; Saint)

Liberalis of Treviso (Christian; Saint)

Olive (Muppetism)

Peter Canisius (Christian; Saint)

Pollio (Christian; Saint)

Rafael Arnáiz Barón (Christian; Saint)

Shemp Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Theodor Kittelsen (Artology)

Turbos of Mogrovejo (Christian; Saint)

Tyi Wara Festival (Mythical half-man, half-animal that teaches Farming to the Bambara Tribe; Mali])

Virgin of Montserrat (Christian; Saint)

Walpurgisnacht, Day V (Pagan)

Xenophon (Positivist; Saint)

Yom HaShoah begins (Holocaust Remembrance Day; Judaism) [27 Nisan; 8 Days]

Zita of Lucca (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Lucky Day (Philippines) [23 of 71]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Anna Karenina (Film; 1948)

Apollo, by Igor Stravinsky (Ballet; 1928)

Avengers: Infinity War (Film; 2018)

Can You Take It (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1934)

The Chinese Nightingale (Happy Harmonies Cartoon; 1935)

Chips with Everything, by Arnold Wesker (Play; 1962)

Cold War (Disney Cartoon; 1951)

The Dish (Film; 2000)

The Fabric of the Cosmos, by Brian Greene (Book; 2004)

The Five-Year Engagement (Film; 2012)

Für Elise, a.k.a. Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor, written by Ludwig van Beethoven (Piano Music; 1810)

Goofy News Views (Phantasies Cartoon; 1945)

Heavy Cream, by Cream (Compilation Album; 1973)

Hooked Bear (Disney Cartoon; 1956)

Hoots Mon! (Film; 1940)

The Hungry Astronaut (Deputy Dawg Cartoon; 1963)

In His Own Write, by John Lennon (Poetry Book; 1964)

Justice Society: World War II (WB Animated Film; 2021)

Kill the Umpire (Film; 1950)

Koyaanisqatsi (Documentary Film; 1983)

The Krays (Film; 1990)

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (TV Series; 2014)

Madeline, by Ludwig Bemelmans (Children’s Book; 1939)

The Manchurian Candidate, by Richard Condon (Novel; 1959)

Mary’s Little Lamb (ComiColor Cartoon; 1935)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Film; 1975)

Mrs. Robinson, by Simon and Garfunkel (Song; 1968)

Music for the Royal Fireworks, by George Frederic Handel (Orchestral Suite; 1749)

Now Hear This (WB LT Cartoon; 1963)

Personality, by Lloyd Price (Song; 1959)

Pink in the Woods (Pink Panther Cartoon; Theatrical; 1979)

The Pirates! Band of Misfits! (Animated Film; 2012)

Roméo et Juliette, by Charles Gounod (Opera; 1867)

Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla (Grammar Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1976)

Seventeenth Summer, by Maureen Daly (Novel; 1942)

Shape Ahoy (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1945)

Shōgun (TV Mini-Series; 2024)

Spaced Invaders (Film; 1990)

The Streak, by Ray Stevens (Song; 1974)

We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin (Novel; 1924)

This Week with John Oliver (TV Series; 2014)

We’re Not Gonna Take It, by Twisted Sister (Song; 1984)

Today’s Name Days

Petrus, Zita (Austria)

Euzebije, Ozana, Polion (Croatia)

Jaroslav (Czech Republic)

Ananias (Denmark)

Haldi, Haldja, Halja (Estonia)

Meea, Merja (Finland)

Zita (France)

Montserrat, Petrus, Zita (Germany)

Zita (Hungary)

Zita (Italy)

Inars, Klementīne, Raimonda, Tāle (Latvia)

Anastazas, Aušra, Gotautas, Zita (Lithuania)

Charles, Charlotte, Lotte (Norway)

Anastazy, Andrzej, Bożebor, Kanizjusz, Martyn, Piotr, Teofil, Zyta (Poland)

Simeon (Romania)

Jaroslav (Slovakia)

Montserrat, Pedro, Zita (Spain)

Engelbrekt (Sweden)

Laverne, Sam, Samantha, Sami, Sammy, Samuel, Samuela, Ulises, Ulysses, Vern, Verna, Verne, Vernon, Zita (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 118 of 2024; 248 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of week 17 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Saille (Willow) [Day 14 of 28]

Chinese: Month 3 (Wu-Chen), Day 19 (Xin-You)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 19 Nisan 5784

Islamic: 18 Shawwal 1445

J Cal: 28 Cyan; Sevenday [28 of 30]

Julian: 14 April 2024

Moon: 86%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 6 Caesar (5th Month) [Phocion]

Runic Half Month: Lagu (Flowing Water) [Day 3 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 40 of 92)

Week: 4th Week of April

Zodiac: Taurus (Day 8 of 31)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 4.27

Holidays

Abolition Day (Mayotte)

Autism Super Mom Day

Babe Ruth Day

Battenberg Day

Button Mushroom Day (French Republic)

Celebrate Teen Literature Day

Day of Russian Parliamentarism (Russia)

Day of the Uprising Against the Occupying Forces (Slovenia)

Drone Safety Day

Ed Balls Eve (UK)

Flag Day (Moldova)

427 Day

Freedom Day (South Africa)

Free Feral Cat Spay Day

International Crow and Raven Appreciation Day

International Donor Conception Awareness Day

International Hyena Day

Koninginnedag (King’s Day; Netherlands)

Lapu-Lapu Day (Philippines)

Local Yarn Store Day

Marine Mammal Rescue Day

Matanzas Mule Day

Mayotte National Day

Moehanga Day (UK)

Morse Code Day

National Alicia Day

National Back Office Heroes Day

National Bubble Butt Appreciation Day

National D.J. Day

National Domestic Workers’ Day (Brazil)

National Little Pampered Dog Day

National Patricia Day

National Pimp Day

National Pneumatics Day

National Transportation Safety Day (Iran)

National Veterans' Day (Finland)

New Beginning Day

Poetry Day (Ireland)

Resistance Day (Slovenia)

Rogers Hornsby Day

Sleep Day

State Flag Day (Moldova)

Teach Your Children to Save Day

Tell A Story Day

Treasurer Day (Ukraine)

Trevithick Day (UK)

UnFreedom Day (South Africa)

Victory Day (Afghanistan)

Woody Woodpecker Day

World Bath Bomb Day

World Design Day

World Graphic Design Day

World Tapir Day

Write An Old Friend Today Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Battenberg Day

Chips with Everything Day

Learn To Make An Apricot Cream Pie Day

Marselan Day

National Devil Dog Day

National Gummi Bear Day

National Prime Rib Day

Saison Day (Allagash)

World Marselan Day

4th & Last Saturday in April

Beer Clean Glass Day [4th Saturday]

Bob Wills Day [Last Saturday]

Canadian Independent Bookstore Day (Canada) [Last Saturday]

Celebrate Trails Day [4th Saturday]

Children’s Day (Colombia) [Last Saturday]

Day of Trees (Colombia) [Last Saturday]

Doo Dah Parade Day (Pasadena, California) [Last Saturday]

Eeyore's Birthday Party (Austin, Texas) [Last Saturday]

Go Birding Day [Last Saturday]

Independent Bookstore Day [Last Saturday]

International Marconi Day [Saturday closest to 4.25]

International Sculpture Day [Last Saturday]

International Table Top Day [Last Saturday]

National Day of Puppetry [4th Saturday]

National First Ladies Day [Last Saturday]

National Go Birding Day [Last Saturday]

National Herb Day [Last Saturday; also 1st Saturday in May]

National Kiss of Hope Day [Last Saturday]

National Pool Opening Day [Last Saturday]

National Prepare-A-Thon! Day [Last Saturday; also 9.30]

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day [Last Saturday]

National Rebuilding Day [Last Saturday]

National Sense of Smell Day [Last Saturday]

Penguin Day [Last Saturday]

Save the Frogs Day [Last Saturday]

World Aboriginal and Native Sacred Ceremony and Dance Day [Last Saturday]

World Activism Day [Last Saturday]

World Disco Food Day [Last Saturday]

World Healing Day [Last Saturday]

World Healing Meditation Day [Last Saturday]

World Reiki Day [Last Saturday]

World Sufi Day [Last Saturday]

World Tai Chi & Qigong Day [Last Saturday]

World Thespian Day [Last Saturday]

World Veterinary Day [Last Saturday]

World Yoga Day [Last Saturday]

Weekly Holidays beginning April 27 (4th Week)

Antigua Sailing Week (St. Johns, Antigua, Barbuda) [thru 5.3]

Just Pray No Weekend [4th Saturday] (thru 4.28)

Independence & Related Days

IKwaZulu-Natali (Declared; 1994) [unrecognized]

lundren (a.k.a. Viscounty of lundgren; Declared; 2020) [unrecognized]

Sierra Leone (from UK, 1961)

Togo (from France, 1960)

Festivals Beginning April 27, 2024

The Appomattox Oyster Festival (Concord, Virginia)

Austin Blues Festival (Austin, Texas) [thru 4.28]

Between the Bluffs Beer, Wine & Cheese Festival (La Crosse, Wisconsin)

Cherry Blossom Festoval (Monterey, California) [thru 4.28]

Clayton Art and Wine Festival (Clayton, California) [thru 4.28]

Comic-Con Cape Town (Cape Town, South Africa) [thru 5.1]

Craft Beer Festival (Long Grove, Illinois)

Dessert Wars (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

Downtown Waterloo Sip-n-Stroll (Waterloo, Iowa)

Endless Mountains Maple festival (Troy, Pennsylvania) [thru 4.28]

Florida Taco Battle, A Fiesta Affair! (Boca Raton, Florida)

Gnarly Culpepper Block Party & Brew Fest (Culpepper, Virginia)

Hard-Pressed Cider Fest (Hood River, Oregon)

Lodi Beer Festival & BBQ Championship (Lodi, California)

Maifest (St. Louis, Missouri) [thru 4.28]

Mountain Mushroom Festival (Irvine, Kentucky) [thru 4.28]

National Cornbread Festival (South Pittsburg, Tennessee) [thru 4.28]

New Jersey Folk Festival (New Brunswick, New Jersey)

North Carolina Pickle Festival (Mount Olive, North Carolina)

Oklahoma Renaissance Festival (Muskogee, Oklahoma) [thru 6.2]

Oregon Cheese Festival (Central Point, Oregon) [thru 4.28]

Ozarks Beerfest (Springfield, Missouri)

Riverside Tale Festival (Riverside, California)

Sacramento Grilled Cheese Festival (Sacramento, California) [thru 4.28]

Schubertiade Vorarlberg )Hohenems, Austria) [thru 5.1]

Taste of Claremont (Claremont, California)

Thirsty Orange Brew Extravaganza (Johnson City, Tennessee)

Tweed Run (London, UK)

Waikiki Spam Jam (Waikiki, Hawaii)

Wine Fest (Kemah, Texas)

WineFest (St. Michaels, Maryland) [thru 4.28]

Feast Days

Alan Reynolds (Artology)

Anastasius, Pope (Christian; Confessor)

Anthimus of Nicomedia (Christian; Saint)

Assicus (Christian; Saint)

Beltane Quinoa Salad Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

86400 Seconds Day (Pastafarian)

Ennead Sail Through the Land, The (Ancient Egypt)

Floribert of Liège (Christian; Saint)

Furze-Hopping Event (Shamanism)

George Petty (Artology)

Hanuman Jayanti (Birthday of the Monkey God; Hindu)

John of Constantinople (Christian; Saint)

Liberalis of Treviso (Christian; Saint)

Olive (Muppetism)

Peter Canisius (Christian; Saint)

Pollio (Christian; Saint)

Rafael Arnáiz Barón (Christian; Saint)

Shemp Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Theodor Kittelsen (Artology)

Turbos of Mogrovejo (Christian; Saint)

Tyi Wara Festival (Mythical half-man, half-animal that teaches Farming to the Bambara Tribe; Mali])

Virgin of Montserrat (Christian; Saint)

Walpurgisnacht, Day V (Pagan)

Xenophon (Positivist; Saint)

Yom HaShoah begins (Holocaust Remembrance Day; Judaism) [27 Nisan; 8 Days]

Zita of Lucca (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Lucky Day (Philippines) [23 of 71]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Anna Karenina (Film; 1948)

Apollo, by Igor Stravinsky (Ballet; 1928)

Avengers: Infinity War (Film; 2018)

Can You Take It (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1934)

The Chinese Nightingale (Happy Harmonies Cartoon; 1935)

Chips with Everything, by Arnold Wesker (Play; 1962)

Cold War (Disney Cartoon; 1951)

The Dish (Film; 2000)

The Fabric of the Cosmos, by Brian Greene (Book; 2004)

The Five-Year Engagement (Film; 2012)

Für Elise, a.k.a. Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor, written by Ludwig van Beethoven (Piano Music; 1810)

Goofy News Views (Phantasies Cartoon; 1945)

Heavy Cream, by Cream (Compilation Album; 1973)

Hooked Bear (Disney Cartoon; 1956)

Hoots Mon! (Film; 1940)

The Hungry Astronaut (Deputy Dawg Cartoon; 1963)

In His Own Write, by John Lennon (Poetry Book; 1964)

Justice Society: World War II (WB Animated Film; 2021)

Kill the Umpire (Film; 1950)

Koyaanisqatsi (Documentary Film; 1983)

The Krays (Film; 1990)

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (TV Series; 2014)

Madeline, by Ludwig Bemelmans (Children’s Book; 1939)

The Manchurian Candidate, by Richard Condon (Novel; 1959)

Mary’s Little Lamb (ComiColor Cartoon; 1935)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Film; 1975)

Mrs. Robinson, by Simon and Garfunkel (Song; 1968)

Music for the Royal Fireworks, by George Frederic Handel (Orchestral Suite; 1749)

Now Hear This (WB LT Cartoon; 1963)

Personality, by Lloyd Price (Song; 1959)

Pink in the Woods (Pink Panther Cartoon; Theatrical; 1979)

The Pirates! Band of Misfits! (Animated Film; 2012)

Roméo et Juliette, by Charles Gounod (Opera; 1867)

Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla (Grammar Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1976)

Seventeenth Summer, by Maureen Daly (Novel; 1942)

Shape Ahoy (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1945)

Shōgun (TV Mini-Series; 2024)

Spaced Invaders (Film; 1990)

The Streak, by Ray Stevens (Song; 1974)

We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin (Novel; 1924)

This Week with John Oliver (TV Series; 2014)

We’re Not Gonna Take It, by Twisted Sister (Song; 1984)

Today’s Name Days

Petrus, Zita (Austria)

Euzebije, Ozana, Polion (Croatia)

Jaroslav (Czech Republic)

Ananias (Denmark)

Haldi, Haldja, Halja (Estonia)

Meea, Merja (Finland)

Zita (France)

Montserrat, Petrus, Zita (Germany)

Zita (Hungary)

Zita (Italy)

Inars, Klementīne, Raimonda, Tāle (Latvia)

Anastazas, Aušra, Gotautas, Zita (Lithuania)

Charles, Charlotte, Lotte (Norway)

Anastazy, Andrzej, Bożebor, Kanizjusz, Martyn, Piotr, Teofil, Zyta (Poland)

Simeon (Romania)

Jaroslav (Slovakia)

Montserrat, Pedro, Zita (Spain)

Engelbrekt (Sweden)

Laverne, Sam, Samantha, Sami, Sammy, Samuel, Samuela, Ulises, Ulysses, Vern, Verna, Verne, Vernon, Zita (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 118 of 2024; 248 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of week 17 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Saille (Willow) [Day 14 of 28]

Chinese: Month 3 (Wu-Chen), Day 19 (Xin-You)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 19 Nisan 5784

Islamic: 18 Shawwal 1445

J Cal: 28 Cyan; Sevenday [28 of 30]

Julian: 14 April 2024

Moon: 86%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 6 Caesar (5th Month) [Phocion]

Runic Half Month: Lagu (Flowing Water) [Day 3 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 40 of 92)

Week: 4th Week of April

Zodiac: Taurus (Day 8 of 31)