Friday, February 14, 2014

Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.



Happy Valentine's Day folk





Remember to enjoy the day and don't eat too much chocolate


For those of you not in a romantic mood today:
February 14, 1931 -
Just in time for the Valentine's Day holiday, Universal Pictures released Tod Browning's horror classic, Dracula, on this date.



When Universal purchased the rights to the 1927 Broadway play, Lon Chaney was considered for the title role. However, Chaney died on August 26, 1930, and the role went to Bela Lugosi.


Today is the Yuan Xiao festival, also called lantern festival. This is also the end of the New Year celebrations. Everyone can breathe a sigh of relief.





There is a story about the Lantern Festival. A beautiful heavenly bird flew down a village and was killed. The God of Heaven was very anger and wanted to burn down the entire village on the 15th lunar day. One wise guy advised every family hang candle lanterns around the house, carried lantern on the street, burn fire outside to explode the firecracker at the 15th lunar night. The soldiers of the God of Heaven saw the village was on fire from the heaven, and returned back to the heaven. The village survived and people keep the lantern activity on this day every year.


Today in History:
February 14, 1400
-
... For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground / And tell sad stories of the death of kings.

King Richard II of England, who had been deposed in 1399, died mysteriously on this date.


February 14, 1779 -
English explorer Captain James Cook and some of his crew are slaughtered (and possibly eaten) by angry Hawaiian islanders, after he tried to take a Hawaiian chief hostage over a dispute regarding a stolen boat.



There was possibly a better way to get the deposit back on a boat.



February 14, 1929
-
The Capone gang kills six members of the Bugs Moran gang and one other person at the S.M.C. Cartage company in Chicago, in an event known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.



Bogus police officers were used so that it appeared to be a routine police bust. Except for all the bodies.


February 14, 1948 -
Raymond Joseph Teller
(Teller) an illusionist, comedian and writer best known as the silent half of the comedy magic duo known as Penn & Teller, accomplished sleight of hand artist, painter, atheist, debunker, skeptic and Fellow of the Cato Institute was born on this date.



He legally changed his name to Teller and possesses one of the few United States passports issued in a single name.

Yeah, he can speak (you idiots.)


February 14, 1962 -
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, with her breathless voice, takes television viewers on a tour of the White House. (Haven't you always been bothered that Marylin Monroe and Jackie Kennedy basically have the same voice?)



It was estimated that hundreds of millions of people saw the program, making it the most widely viewed documentary during the genre's so called golden age.



And so it goes.

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