For fans of early New Orleans jazz

Joseph "King" Oliver, born in Abend, La, on May 11, 1885, mentor and teacher of Louis Armstrong, was a jazz cornet player and bandleader.









He was inducted as a charter member of the Gennett Records Walk of Fame in Richmond, Indiana in 2007.

I'm your private dancer

Anna Mae Bullock was born in Nutbush, Tennessee, on November 26, 1939. She is singer, actress, practicing Buddhist and The Queen of Rock 'n' Roll.









Tina Turner has won 8 Grammy Awards.

Superfly, you'll make your fortune by and by

Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 -- December 26, 1999) was an American soul, rhythm and blues, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer best known as a pioneer of funk and of politically conscious African-American music.









He was also a multi-instrumentalist who played the guitar, bass, piano, saxophone, and drums.

I'm not sure

On February 1, 1976, Werner Heisenberg died in Munich. Mr. Heisenberg was one of the last century's foremost physicists, a reputation he earned primarily by having confused everybody so completely that most of us remain baffled to this very day.

The famous Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle states that the act of observation changes the state of the thing being observed. This principle is most vividly illustrated by the penis. Mr. Heisenberg studied with Nils Bohr and Albert Einstein before finally branching out into his own area of highly specialized confusion, eventually dubbed quantum physics. He was particularly confused by his efforts to identify the exact location of a given particle while simultaneously identifying another of its characteristics (such as height, weight, or telephone number).



It was confusing mainly because he couldn't do it. Not only that, but he was also able to discover that no one else could do it, either. Ever. No matter how hard they tried. This suggested a disturbing level of certainty about the Uncertainy Principle, making it paradoxical, which finally put an end to such premodern notions as fixedness, regularity, dependability, and reliability. Thanks to Mr. Heisenberg, the world is now a volatile aggregation of baffling incompatibilities.

Oops.

Perhaps anticipating Heisenberg, or a little overeager for Valentine's Day, the Soviet government declared on February 1, 1918, that it was actually February 14, 1918 (The Russian adopt the Gregorian Calendar)


James Victor Scott, born in Cleveland on July 17, 1925, is jazz vocalist famous for his unnaturally high contralto voice which is due to Kallmann's syndrome, a very rare genetic condition that interferes with normal sexual maturation.









Fads come and go, but Jimmy is the definition of cool.

For you and I are past our dancing days

January 29 1595 -

When he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine,
That all the world will be in lobe with night,
And pay no worship to the garish sun....


William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet is probably first performed on this date (unless it wasn't).







I don't know, I wasn't there, were you?

Fellini don't want to give back the money

January 20, 1920 -
Federico Fellini, director, screenwriter, producer, painter and cartoonist, was born on this date.











All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster's autobiography

Epiphany: the puzzling but privileged moment, sudden gift of vision, when one's feeling of aliveness intensifies and the senses quicken

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world. - John Milton

It's the Feast of the Three Kings (Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar), Little Christmas, etc.

If you're playing the home version of the game - the Gifts of the Magi were Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh (or the watch fob and a set of combs would have been an acceptable answer.)




... The magi, as you know, were wise men--wonderfully wise men--who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.... - O. Henry



Gold is a precious metal and has monetary value. It represented Jesus' Kingship.



Frankincense is another resin, an aromatic one, from the milky sap of the Boswellia Tree. it is used as perfume, incense and in aromatherapy today, and was used in religious rites in Jesus' time. This represented homage to God.




Myrrh is a resin (dried sap) from the Myrrh tree. It is used in perfumes and incense. It was commonly used as an embalming ointment in Jesus' day. This was a startling gift for a young boy--it represented His death.



May your day be filled with small moments of infinite joy and wisdom.




(OK folks, the holidays are official over - take the damn decorations down.)