The Scottish residents and expatriates partake in
first-footing
where the first person to enter the house/business establishment
on New Year's Day 12:01 a.m. and later is viewed as a bringer of
luck for the coming year. Red-headed visitors are viewed as bad luck;
traditionally this person should bring a present but nothing too crazy!
[ example gifts like a lump of coal, shortbread, or whiskey ]
2024 will offer us 366 days because it is a LEAP Year (once every 4 years).
Effective January 2024
Danish Queen Margrethe (who ascended to the throne in 1972) has abdicated
in favor of her son, Prince Frederik of Denmark. She is 83 years old.
She shared the news in her annual "New Year's Eve Speech" broadcast
on national Danish television.
cnn.com is source of this news
January 2, 2023
The planet Earth's orbit reaches its closest point to the Sun.
91,403,304 miles
Sun Bowl at El Paso, TX (Dec. 29, 2023)
final score was Notre Dame Fighting Irish 40 vs. Oregon State Ducks 8
Vickers Theatre
Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023 one showing
7:00 p.m. Eastern
Admission for adults $12
address 6 N. Elm Street in downtown Three Oaks (Berrien County)
students with I.D. $10
Seniors 60+ $10 each
Seniors 100 and over FREE
Now serving wine and beer -- details
http://vickerstheatre.com/
from LEAVES OF GRASS (by poet Walt Whitman)
This is what you shall do:
Love the earth and sun and the animals;
Despise riches;
Give alms to everyone who asks;
Stand up for the stupid and crazy.
Re-examine all you have been told
at school or church or in any book;
Dismiss whatever insults your very soul;
Your very flesh shall be a great poem.
December 26 annually
Day following Xmas Day is a day for middle- and upper-class citizens to deliver
extra food, items, money they have to the poor citizens who are underpaid the
other 364 days of the year
article in NY TIMES online
nytimes.com/2023/12/25/world/europe/ukraine-russia-christmas-ukrainian-orthodox-church.html
due to divergence from Russian orthodox insistence on Julian Calendar
12.24 Sunday - Tuesday 12.26 it will be visible
Maximum fullness will be 7:33 p.m. eastern
further details at Old Farmer's Almanac (almanac.com)
originated Saturday 12.23
Berrien & Cass counties, SW Michigan
many N. Indiana counties as well
from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
EXTENSION from 5:23 p.m. to 11 a.m. Sunday 24 December 2023
Christmas Eve morning fog - diminished visibility
December 26 annually
The well-known martyr mentioned early in the ACTS of the APOSTLES
is a Christian saint
Tuesday Dec. 19, 2003
retired US SCOTUS justice Sandra Day O'Connor
will be eulogized by POTUS and Chief Justice
Noon Funeral
Invitation only
This year's winter solstice falls on
December 21, 2023
10:27 p.m. Eastern Time Zone
shortest amount of daylight for entire 365-day year
Tonight at its peak
shooting star debris from asteroid 3200 Phaethon
at a distance of +6.4 million miles from earth
between 10 p.m. wednesday and 1 a.m. thursday
December 13, 2023
IN 2023, AI Artificial Intelligence dominated public discourse
from the discoveries of large language models like CHAT-GPT
to pondering the ethics of creating an image of Pope Francis
Dictionary.com ' s 2nd definition of Hallucinate is:
(of a machine learning program) to produce false information
contrary to the intent of the user and to present it as if true and factual
FROM: USA TODAY article about
word of the YEAR 2023 (Dictionary.com announcement)
12/12/2023
Happy Hanukkah (Jewish celebration of lights - annually December)
begins tonight Dec. 7 for eight successive nights
[ the starting dates vary widely from year to year ]
2023 is from Thursday 12/7 until Friday Dec. 15
This day marks the beginning of FINAL EXAMS for
University of Notre Dame (South Bend, IN) -- all-day
all campus locations
MONTH of December 2023 = 7239 page views total
Today 12/1/2023 -- 92 visits to this Google BLOG
12/2 = 35
Sunday 12/3 = 43
Monday 12/4 = 104
Tuesday 12/5 = 129
Wed. 12/6 = 104
Thurs. 12/7 = 75 - First Night of Hanukkah for December 2023
Friday Dec. 8 = 38
Sat. 12/9 = 221
Sunday 12/10 = 94
Monday 12/11 = 76
Tues. 12/12 = 62
Wed. 12/13 = 147
Thursday 12/14 = 37
12/15 = 163
Sat. 12/16 = 31
3rd Sunday of Advent 12/17 = 11 page views
12/18 = 190
12/19 = 108
12/20 = 93 page views
12/21 = 20
12.22.2023 = 17 page views
23rd December = 26
Christmas Eve 12.24 = 25
Christmas Day 12.25 = 4238
Boxing Day 12.26 = 33 page views
12.27.2023 = 200
12/28.2023 = 65 page views
12.29 = 371
12.30 = 86 page views
12/31/2023 - 196 page views
Later this month 12/17/2023
the campus police and official administration of the Univ. of Notre Dame
(South Bend, IN) has banned for use by students/faculty/staff
any wheeled e-Scooters e-skate or hover boards and go karts on the roads, sidewalks, transportation ways.
