11 May 08 Mother’s Day
The old English Mothering Sunday which takes place in March in the UK, has its roots in pre-Christian times, and is celebrating there as a religious festival, but modern Mother’s Day – the giving of cards, flowers, chocolates etc – was started in the United States by Anna Jarvis.
Firstly she got her local church involved, as she wanted to commemorate her own mother’s life, and that of all mothers, and after campaigning for the best part of ten years, US President Woodrow Wilson officially dedicated a day to mothers in 1914 – the second Sunday in May.
However, Anna was horrified at how commercialized it rapidly became, and she, along with her sister, spent the whole of the family inheritance trying to get it stopped. She even tried to copyright the date, so she could take control of, and tone down the event. She failed, and died in poverty in 1948.
The way that Mother’s Day is celebrated now, would surely make her turn in her grave.
Tags: 1914, anna jarvis, cards flowers, family inheritance, local church, mothering sunday, poverty, president woodrow wilson, religious festival, roots, second sunday, tone down, woodrow wilson
15 Jan 08 Spanish Moss
It’s not Spanish and it’s not moss; it is uniquely American. It’s related to the pineapple. It can be found anywhere from North Carolina to South America.
It’s not a parasite, or poisonous like some folks imagine. It’s actually an epiphyte, which is a type of plant that has no roots but leaves off the moisture in the air. Small scales trap rain for easier absorbtion and keep the internal moisture in
Nourish comes from the mineral rich cells from the host tree, and for this reason Spanish Moss is often found in abundance on dead or decaying trees where the mineral rich cells are shedding faster.
It doesn’t bear fruit like a pineapple does, but sometimes produces small yellow flowers. It can grow up to twenty five feet long. It is sometimes used as packing material and upholstery stuffing.
Tags: absorbtion, abundance, bear fruit, cells, epiphyte, five feet, host tree, leaves, north carolina, packing material, parasite, pineapple, rain, roots, scales, south america, spanish moss, trees, upholstery, yellow flowers
07 Nov 07 Audiobooks
I’ve listened to pod-casts for some time, but not audio-books.
What’s the difference you may ask? Well, a pod-cast is often a mixture of music and chat or simply spoken word on it’s own. It can be likened more to a radio show, than a book.
An audio book, on the other hand, is the reading of a book! They are usually quite professional productions, (as are many pod-casts), and unlike many pod-casts, they are NOT usually free.
I recently took out a trial at audible.com, and got a PDF copy of a very interesting magazine called Audio File. I printed it out and found it a most enlightening read, as it explained what goes into an audio-book production.
For my trial audio-book I downloaded the unabridged version of “Roots” the now 30 year old epic starting in 1750 and ending some 200 years later.
Once I get to actually listen to it (and it’s over 30 hours long), I’ll write a short review.
Tags: audible, audio book, audiobook production, audiobooks, enlightening, mixture, Music, pdf copy, podcast, podcasts, professional productions, radio show, roots, spoken word, unabridged version, years later
