Chocolate, Rabbits, Dyed Eggs, and Resurrection

Happy Easter everybody!

We've spoken about Ishtar before: there is an ancient story about Tammuz (also known as Attis, Osiris, Dionysus, Adonis, Orpheus or Jesus - you'll get the idea) who was born of a virgin, died, was reborn. He was the lover of Ishtar.

The festival associated with Tammuz began as a day of blood on Black Friday and culminated after three days in a day of rejoicing over the resurrection. Tammuz, beloved of Ishtar, was killed by a wild pig. As Tammuz was killed by a pig, a pig must be slaughtered and eaten on that Sunday.



His blood fell on the stump of an evergreen tree, and the stump grew into a full new tree overnight. This made the evergreen tree sacred by the blood of Tammuz.



There is a forty day period of sorrow each year prior to the anniversary of the death of Tammuz. During this time, no meat is to be eaten. Worshipers were to make the sign of "T" in front of their hearts in honor of Tammuz. They were to make and eat sacred cakes with the marking of a "T" on the top.



Every year, on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox, the celebration begins. That is Ishtar's Sunday and is commemorated with rabbits and eggs which are sacred to her.

Now that Lent is completely over, resume all of your previous bad habits with barely any new-found spiritual insights.



Hopefully you'll find all those Easter eggs or you'll be sorry. Year old hard boiled eggs left behind grandma's couch really, really stink - enough said.


Today is also Blah, Blah, Blah Day. It’s the day to do any of the following, or whatever.



Stop smoking, take out the trash, empty the cat litter, lose weight, pick up your clothes, put dirty dishes in the sink, get a job or quit your job BUT get your goddamn booster shot.


April 17, 1924 -
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios was created following a merger of the Louis B. Mayer Company, Goldwyn Pictures, and Metro Pictures, on this date.



The MGM studio was a division of Loew's, Inc., one of the largest theater chains in North America at the time.


April 17, 1937 -
Happy Birthday Daffy!



Daffy Duck's first appearance in a Looney Tunes cartoon, Porky's Duck Hunt, premiered on this date. (We'll see the entire cartoon later this week.)


April 17, 1970 -
A little known solo artist Paul McCartney releases his first solo album, McCartney, on this date.



The album was Paul McCartney's first solo effort, he had little in the way of leftovers to work with. He worked up the album in his kitchen, and played all of the instruments himself. The only other performer on the album was his wife Linda, who lent backing vocals (she also took the cover photo). (An unfortunate co-incidence for this day, Linda McCarthy died from complications of breast cancer on this date in 1998.)


April 17, 1971 -
Three Dog Night's single, Joy to the World, made it to the top of the pop music charts on this date. The song was number one for six weeks.



Hoyt Axton's mother, Mae Axton, co-wrote the Elvis hit Heartbreak Hotel. When Joy To The World topped the charts, the Axtons became the only mother-son team to each be credited with writing a #1 record.


Another book from the back shelves of the ACME Library


Today in History:
April 17, 1524 -
Giovanni da Verrazzano, another in a long line of European knuckleheads trying to find a shortcut to India, reaches the Narrows, the strait between Staten Island and Long Island on this date. He made the rookie mistake of not having enough change to go through and is turned around by local native authorities.



For some reason, we (the U.S.) named two bridges after him. Little know fact - he tried that trick again of not having exact change for the tolls while exploring the island of Guadeloupe and was eaten by native toll takers.


April 17, 1960 -
Eddie Cochran, the man behind Summertime Blues and C’mon Everybody, was killed, and Gene Vincent was injured, when the taxi carrying them from a show in Bristol, England, crashed en route to the airport in London, where he was to catch a flight back home to the US.



The taxi driver lost control on a bend in the road and spun backwards into a concrete lamp post. Cochran, who was seated in the center of the back seat, threw himself over his fiancée Sharon Sheeley, to shield her, and was thrown out of the car when the door flew open.


April 17, 1961 -
In an effort to overthrow Fidel Castro, 1,500 Cuban exiles make a series of amphibious landings at the Bay of Pigs. After it becomes painfully obvious in just a matter of hours that the forces were trained, equipped, and armed by the United States, the speed freak and known sex hound President John F. Kennedy withholds necessary air cover to protect them.



In three days of fighting, Cuba captures 1,197 of the rebels and killed approximately 200.


April 17, 1964 -
On March 19th, 1964, Geraldine 'Jerrie' Mock, a 38-year-old mother of three, jumped in the family Cessna 180 and departed Port Columbus (OH) Airport. Just over 23,000 miles later, after nearly a month dealing with unfamiliar cultures, mechanical problems and dangerous weather, she arrived back in Columbus to become the first woman to fly solo around the world on this date.



Mock's journey took about a month; aside from being the first woman to fly around the world by herself, she also set several speed records and was also the first woman to fly both the Atlantic and the Pacific.


April 17, 1964 -
The Ford Motor Company unveiled the Ford Mustang, championed by Ford Division general manager Lee Iacocca, at the New York World's Fair on this date.



The base price was $2,368. Industry experts in 1996 picked the 1964 Mustang as the number one favorite car.


April 17, 1967 -
The spacecraft Surveyor 3 is launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida, on this date. It will become the second U.S. spacecraft to make a soft landing on the Moon, where it will study the lunar surface and send more than 6,300 pictures back to Earth.



Based on the spacecraft's surface sampling tests, scientists concluded the lunar surface was solid enough to hold the weight of an Apollo lunar module.


April 17, 1969 -
A Los Angeles jury convicted Sirhan Sirhan of assassinating Senator Robert F. Kennedy on this date. Sirhan received a death sentence, but it is later reduced to life in prison.



Poor Mr. Sirhan, one of the only people who might have spoken in his defense, Robert F. Kennedy, was dead.


April 17, 1975 -
Cambodia fell on this date, when communist insurgents known as the Khmer Rouge enter the capital city of Phnom Penh.



Not much else to say after except that hopefully we won't see a repeat of this in Kyiv.


April 17, 1986 -
The Dutch-Scilly War lasted 335 years and had no battles or deaths. Spanning between 1651 – 1986, the war was a by-product of the English Civil War and the decision of the Dutch to side with the Parliamentarians over the Royalists. The Royalists had raided a few Dutch shipping vessels in revenge before fleeing to the Isles of Scilly. The Dutch turned up, demanding reparations from the Royalists and, when they didn’t pay up, declared war.



But they decided to call it a day and go home pretty sharpish as they realized the Royalists didn’t have a penny to their names. Only thing is they never declared peace with the Isles and just completely forgot they were at war. Then, roughly three centuries later, historian Roy Duncan stumbled upon a footnote in Scilly about the war. He invited the Dutch Ambassador for Great Britain to Scilly, where a peace treaty was negotiated and signed, bringing the war to an end after 335 years and no bitter bloodshed.



And so it goes.