Skills to Pay the Bills

Thursday, April 24, 2008- Panjshanbeh, Ordibehesht 5, 1387- Yawm-al-Khamis, Rabi-ath-Thani 17, 1429- Prickle-Prickle, Discord 41, 3174. (And today is also Veer-waar and Istijlal).

Here's the thing, I like to think of myself as a pretty cool guy. I know how to get down and boogie. I got mad skills (except at basketball according to Jackson Meiers). I know how to dress myself and appreciate good music. I am moderately intelligent, have a good sense of humor and have been told that I am not unattractive. That being said I have some vices. I smoke cigarettes despite the fact that people have been telling me that I need to quit (for what is now a long time). I drink too much beer. I don't exercise enough (or really at all) and I don't eat right. And then I find myself interested in things which may not really be considered popular with the kids these days. I have somewhat of a weird obsession with flags and coats of arms and I write this damn blog every day- which is kind of bordering on the un-cool (although the blog itself is pretty flippin cool). Basically, what I'm getting at is, that today is almost Friday and I'm feeling pretty uncool.

So, in 1184 BCE, the Greeks pulled the biggest practical joke of all time when they hid in the Trojan Horse and snuck into Troy and won the war. Man that was clever. In 1558 Mary Queen of the Scots married the Dauphin of France (the dauphin is the heir to the throne), Francois. In 1704 the first regular newpaper in the US was published and titled the "Boston New-Letter". In 1800 the US Library of Congress was established by President John Adams. In 1863 53 Native Americans were massacred near Keyesville, CA. In 1915 the Armenian Genocide began when affluent Armenians were round up and killed by the Turks in Consantinople (which is now Istanbul). The Turks completely deny that this ever happened which is why they still haven't gotten into the EU yet. In 1953 the Southwest Bank in St. Louis was robbed. This bank robbery was depicted in the movie, "The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery." Clever title. In 1993 an IRA bomb hit the Bishopsgate are of London doing a lot of damage. In 2004 the US lifted economic sanctions on Libya. And three years ago Joseph Ratzinger became the 265th Pontifex Maximus and adopted the name Benedict XVI.

In The Gambia today is Republic Day. The Gambia is the smallest country in Africa and its capital is Banjul. It is home to 1.7 million people who are predominately employed in the industries of peanut farming, soap making, soda pop manufacturing, or the textile industry. Over 90% of Gambians are Muslims.

Happy Birthday: William of Orange, the great Dutch Protestant leader; Anthony Trollope; Shirley MacLaine (weirdo); the Antichrist, Barbara Streisand; designer Jean-Paul Gaultier; Cedric the Entertainer; and Kelly Clarkson.

Enjoy your day... and if you brought you child to work today, please keep the little monster close by and out of my hair. Thank you.