The nomination of Pigasus

1968 USA: During the Democratic Party Convention in Chicago, at the Civic Center plaza (now known as the Daley Center), Yippie leaders Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman and others nominated their presidential contender – Pigasus the pig. His platform was 'garbage'. Seven Yippies – and Pigasus – were arrested.

On the same day, almost 6,000 National Guardsman were mobilised and practised riot-control drills. Special police platoons did the same ...

Categories: hip, hippie, 1960s, yippie

The Butcher of Beijing

1904 Deng Xiaoping (d. 1997), leader of the People's Republic of China (1976 - '83), one of the chiefs of the many architects of the Tienanmen Square massacre who have never been brought to justice ...

Categories: china, biography

Feast day of St Roch (Roche; Rock; Rocco; Rollox; Rolex; Roque; Rochus)

Patron of those with the plague, whose feast day falls at the peak time of the old plague season, St Roch of the 14th Century (c. 1295 – August 16, 1327) worked miracles among 'people living with plague', though he suffered from the disease himself.

He was a French gentleman, with estates near Montpellier in the south of France. Roch healed all the sick in Palcentia. Being imprisoned in France, on the false charge of spying, and about to die, he prayed that he might live three days longer in contemplation of the Passion of Jesus Christ. This was granted; on the third day an angel came and said it was time to go, but he could have one more wish. St Roch asked that anyone with plague might pray to him after his death and be healed. An angel brought down from heaven a tablet with the confirmation of his request divinely written in gold ...

Categories: saint, calendar-customs

Goin down to Yasgur's farm ...

1969 The Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened.

It was held at Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, USA until August 17. Performers included The Band, Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, Ravi Shankar, Janis Joplin, The Who, and Jefferson Airplane. Four hundred thousand fans attended ...

Categories: hip, hippie, rock-music, festival

Bellingen Jazz and Blues Festival not about peace

Who said Bellingen is a peacenik town?

And who said jazz and blues were progressive music genres? Bellingen's famed Jazz and Blues Festival is bringing to town a military aircraft this weekend. An Air Force propaganda balloon.

See also the Defence Force article Promoting a Positive Image of the Air Force, a PDF file that discusses the use of this balloon for public relations. Here's a clip.


Categories: peace, war, propaganda, pr, bellingen, music, jazz, blues

McCain: Get to work!

Categories: mccain, energy, sustainability, oil, youtube, video, usa

Wilson to resurrect but with slightly less labor

It being the depths of winter here in Bellingen, NSW, Australia, in a valley where the days are often balmy but the nights as cold as an evil witch's teat, and Wilson being struck with bronchitis and other illness, while exceptionally busy producing a musical satirical comedy of his own write ('BRAND BELLINGEN', to play in Bellingen's Memorial Hall on August 30), as well as launching a book this week, and enjoying/enduring the usual lifeworld that we of the lunatic 21st Century must both enjoy and endure in order to survive, he has been mostly offline for a few days, and even occasionally taken to his bed for physical and mental health purposes.

However, Wilson is feeling much better now -- quite chipper, in fact -- and expects to return online imminently. Thank you for your patience, if you have had such, for this old codger, who thanks you also for your patronage, your subscriptions to the free daily Wilson's Almanac ezine, and your encouraging emails.

However, on health grounds, after 2,576 daily editions over nearly 9 years, I'm considering that I shall take one day off every week or so, or whenever Ma Nature demands, and the ezine will be published just slightly less frequently, with days off whenever I feel so inclined. Still, it is mainly a daily ezine. Carpe diem! Seize the day!

Meanwhile, I hope you will enjoy today in the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, and I look forward very much, as always, to your friendly email messages each day from all parts of this beautiful planet. Thank you.

Abundance and gratitude,

Pip Wilson

Click the thumbnail image above for Wilson with Skellies at APEC.

Mary Read and the true story of Caribbean pirates

Click book cover to embiggen

My friend and near-neighbour (in country miles), Cherie Pugh, has written a marvellous book about Mary Read, the fascinating English pirate, who we have discussed several times at these pages in the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days.

"Based on the life of the infamous 18th-Century pirate, 'Mary Read' is an adventure that will leave you with the stink of gunpowder in your nostrils and the roll of the open ocean under your feet. Sail against the Scottish Pretender, charge into battle against the French, and plunder the Caribbean with the Brethren of the Seas!"

At over 200,000 words, it is the ultimate pirate yarn, and suitable for all readers over 14. It's really priced very low considering how big and good it is -- grab yourself a copy and have a good read from my mate, who is not only a seasoned sailor herself, but travelled from Australia to London to research this fascinating historical fiction from musty old archives, such as court records. My friend Cherie has the book for sale at a very good price, online at www.womanpirate.com. Check it out for yourself -- it will also make a great present for a friend.

Categories: uk, crime, nautical, australia, australian-literature

Jesse Owens Olympics myth

1936 "Adolf Hitler walked out of the 1936 Summer Olympics stadium in Berlin, Germany after African-American athlete Jesse Owens (1913 - 1980) won gold in the 200 metre race. Owens's four gold medals were an eloquent refutation of Hitler's theory of the inferiority of the black races."

So says the story, repeated in many places including here. However, it isn't so. Hitler wasn't at the Olympics that day, and it was probably a story invented by journalists at the time. As the Congressional Gold Medal website says,

"In fact Hitler was absent on the days in question and the German athletes and German public welcomed and praised Owens, just like everyone else." Source

At first, Owens denied the tale to interviewers at Berlin and to reporters on his return home. However, he must have found that the constant denial was a bother and that to claim the 'snub' occurred would work to his advantage.

However, Jesse Owens himself throws some confusion into an already confused question. In his 1970 autobiography, The Jesse Owens Story, Owens himself recounted an opposite but also historically inaccurate variation on the myth – that Hitler had stood up and waved to him ...

Categories: sport, usa, african-american, hitler, germany, olympics