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reetings from Australia. 

Welcome to this Red-Letter Day. Below you will find today's global celebrations, birthdays and events.

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Carpe diem! (Seize the day!)

Pip Wilson

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Carpe diem! 28 Yesterday | Tomorrow | Search Open links in a New Window

Today is

The harvest moon has come,
Booming softly through heaven, like a bassoon.
And the earth replies all night, like a deep drum.
Ted Hughes; 'The Harvest Moon'

If I was going to be broke I decided I might as well be with actors as anyone else. They were cheerful idiots and seemed to take it better.
Peter Finch, Australian actor, born on September 28, 1916 (when asked why he had chosen acting as a profession)

Good acting should teach people to understand rather than judge.
Peter Finch

You're beginning to believe the illusions we're spinning here, you're beginning to believe that the tube is reality and your own lives are unreal. You do. Why, whatever the tube tells you: you dress like the tube, you eat like the tube, you raise your children like the tube, you even think like the tube. This is mass madness, you maniacs. In God's name, you people are the real thing, we are the illusion.
Peter Finch's character Howard Beale in Finch's final movie, Network   Source

Television is not the truth. Television is a goddamned amusement park.
Peter Finch's character Howard Beale, ibid

You've got to say, 'I'm a HUMAN BEING, Goddamnit! My life has VALUE!' So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, 'I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!' I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell – 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad! ... You've got to say, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: [screaming at the top of his lungs] "I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"
Peter Finch's character Howard Beale, ibid

I really wanted to die at certain periods in my life. Death was like love, a romantic escape. I took pills because I didn't want to throw myself off my balcony and know people would photograph me lying dead below.
Brigitte Bardot, French actress born on September 28, 1934

A photograph can be an instant of life captured for eternity that will never cease looking back at you. 
Brigitte Bardot

It is sad to grow old but nice to ripen.
Brigitte Bardot

It is better to be unfaithful than to be faithful without wanting to be.
Brigitte Bardot

Men are beasts and even beasts don't behave as they do.
Brigitte Bardot

I accept differences of cultures in all countries. But unfortunately, cows are grown to be eaten, dogs are not. I accept that many people eat beef, but a cultured country does not allow its people to eat dogs.
Brigitte Bardot

I have always adored beautiful young men. Just because I grow older, my taste doesn't change. So if I can still have them, why not?
Brigitte Bardot 

If I could do anything about the way people behave towards each other, I would, but since I can't I'll stick to animals.
Brigitte Bardot 

It was a night.
Brigitte Bardot; in an interview in New York when asked "What was the best day of your life?"

I gave my beauty and my youth to men. I am going to give my wisdom and experience to animals.
Brigitte Bardot

I leave before being left. I decide.
Brigitte Bardot

I have been very happy, very rich, very beautiful, much adulated, very famous and very unhappy.
Brigitte Bardot; interviewed on her 50th birthday, London Times, September 28, 1984

I really am a cat transformed into a woman ... I purr. I scratch. And sometimes I bite.
Brigitte Bardot

I started out as a lousy actress and have remained one.
Brigitte Bardot

I don't think when I make love.
Brigitte Bardot

I am against the Islamization of France. For centuries our forefathers ... our fathers gave their lives to chase all successive invaders from France.
Brigitte Bardot; Un Cri dans le Silence (A Scream In The Silence), 2003

It is not fatness! It is development.
Brigitte Bardot

If we don't get an answer, we will, strengthened by the support we receive, try to overthrow the government.
Brigitte Bardot

She is the princess of pout, the countess of come hither. Brigitte Bardot exuded a carefree, naive sexuality that brought a whole new audience to French films.
Time Magazine; on Brigitte Bardot

Although she had a gift for infidelity, she always suffered if she had an affair with more than one man at a time.
Roger Vadim; on Brigitte Bardot

This would be equivalent to recording me as I'm singing in a nightclub and then taking that recording and pressing thousands of CDs and selling it for lots of money and not sharing it with me.
Tomme Young, World Conservation Union, on bio-piracy; an international conference of indigenous people met in Bolivia on September 28, 1994 to discuss this crime against the biosphere

Everyone there should move, should run, should grab more hills, expand the territory. Everything that's grabbed, will be in our hands. Everything we don't grab will be in their hands.
Ariel Sharon, as Israeli Foreign Minister, in comments broadcast on Israeli radio, November 15, 1998; the Second Intifada began on September 28, 2000   Source of quote: CNN

September 28 is the 271^st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (272^nd in leap years), with 94 days remaining.
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When 'Source' links on this page move address or die, I might allow them to stay here, but the Wayback Machine might help you locate the original.

Happy Harvest Moon (Northern Hemisphere) to all (2004)  :) 

Wish I had more time to write some more, 
but here are some links about this special occasion:

 

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast11sep_2.htm

http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/harvest/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_moon

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/folklore/10667

http://www.crystalinks.com/harvestmoon2003.html

http://www.sacred-texts.com/astro/ml/

 

 

Chinese Moon Festival (2004)

A note about the dating of items in Wilson's Almanac

"The date of Chinese Moon Festival (a.k.a. Mid-autumn Festival) is on the 15th moon day of 8th Chinese lunar month (Chicken month)."
Source

"Chinese folklore is rich with their moon goddess, who is seen as the Lady in the Moon. One delightful Chinese moon legend, Chang O Ascends To The Moon, tells about Chang O and how she came to live in the moon palace. Another moon legend of interest is Wu Hang And The Moon Palace. In the Chinese latitudes, the woman in the moon is not viewed as Victorian since her appearance changes with light variations."   Source

http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/heritage/festivals/he_fest_mida.jhtml 

The Legend of the Moon Pie    Full Moon    Wu Hang and the Moon Palace

Chang O ascends to the moon    Many Beijingers change ways of Moon Festival greetings: survey

Maui moon fest looks back at Chinese culture    Chinese Fortune Calendar    Celebrating Moon Festival

Send a free e-card for the Moon Festival

Feast day of St Wenceslaus (Vaclav; Wenzel; Vaceslav; Wenceslaus of Bohemia), Duke of Bohemia (Czech Statehood Day), Czech Republic

Most of us have heard of this Czech Christian saint, as he is 'Good King Wencelsaus' of the famous Christmas carol which dates from 1853.

St Wenceslas (c. 907 - 922; some sources say he died in 935) was a Bohemian prince, martyred by his brother Boleslav. After Boleslav invited his brother to the feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian, he murdered him on his way to church and thus succeeded Wenceslas as the Prince of Czechia.

Wenceslas was the son of Vratislav I, Prince of Czechia. His father was a Christian through his father Borivoj's conversion by Saints Cyril and Methodius. His mother, Drahomíra, however, was the daughter of a pagan tribal chief who held on to the pagan belief system, as did many Czechs at the time. Wenceslas was made famous outside his native Bohemia by the English 19^th-Century Christmas carol, Good King Wenceslas, written in 1853 by John Mason Neale (1818 - '66), an Anglican priest.

Many tales of wonders associated with St Wenceslas are believed by numbers of devout Czech Christians. A certain pagan, who was imprisoned, once made a promise to God, saying, "If the Lord helps me for the sake of the good deeds of blessed Wenceslas, I will believe in Christ and give my son into His service". Immediately, all of his shackles fell to the ground. Again and again the guards chained him down, and again as before his shackles fell from him. Thus he was released and, fulfilling his vow, he studied and was baptized in the Christian faith, and lived for many more years.

There was in the city a poor woman who was both blind and crippled. She went into the church, fell on the ground before the grave of blessed Wenceslas, and prayed until she regained her sight and the use of her arms.

There is a crown known as St Wenceslas's crown, which was exclusively made for Charles IV of Luxembourg (1318 - 1378), who on September 2, 1347 was the first to be crowned King of Bohemia with it. Charles IV succeeded his father John of Luxembourg ('John the Blind') as king of the Romans in 1346, king of Bohemia in 1347 (as Charles I), and emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 1355 on the death of Louis IV. He retained the imperial title until his death in 1378. The Crown of Wenceslas became the symbol of Czech independence.

"You're probably familiar with this old Christmas carol. But did you know that Wenceslas was a real person? He was born into the royal Premysl or Przemyslid dynasty of Bohemia (located in what is now the Czech Republic) ...

"The words to the carol 'Good King Wenceslas' were written by John Mason Neale and first published in 1853. The music is from a 13th century song called 'Tempus Adest Floridum,' or 'Spring Has Unwrapped Her Flowers.' The music was first published in written form in Finland in 1582 as part of a collection of songs called Piae Cantiones. It is also used for another carol, 'Gentle Mary Laid Her Child.' And in case you're wondering, the Feast of Stephen is celebrated on December 26 – the day after Christmas."    Source

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Feast day of St Anthony Gonzalez Feast day of St Bernardine of Feltre Feast day of St Conval Feast day of St Domingo Ibáñez de Erquicia Feast day of St Eustochium, virgin (Evergreen golden rod, Solidago sempervirens, is today's plant, dedicated to this saint.) Feast day of St Exuperius, Bishop of Toulouse Feast day of St Francisco Shoyemon Feast day of St Guillermo Courtet Feast day of St Heliodorus Feast day of St Hyacinth Jordan Ansalone Feast day of St Jacobo Kyushei Gorobioye Tomonaga Feast day of St John Cochumbuco  Feast day of St Lawrence Shizu Feast day of St Lazaro of Kyoto Feast day of St Leoba (Lioba; Leofgyth), abbess Leoba (also ) (c. 710 - September 28, 782) was an Anglo-Saxon nun who was part of Boniface's mission to the Germans, and a saint. Feast day of St Lorenzo Ruiz of Manila More Feast day of St Luke Alonso Gordà Feast day of St Magdalena de Nagasaki Feast day of St Maria Chaira Feast day of St Marie Adolphine Dierks Feast day of St Marie Amandine Feast day of St Marie de Saint Just Feast day of St Marina de Omura Feast day of the Martyrs of China Feast day of St Mateo Kohioe a Rosario Feast day of St Miguel de Aozaraza Feast day of St Miguel Kurobioye Feast day of the Nativity of the Virgin, Malta Feast day of St Thiemo Feast day of St Thomas Hioji Rokuzayemon Nishi Feast day of St Vicente Shiwozuka de la Cruz Shop Saints Click for Eastern Orthodox liturgical days Festival of Wawtsari, Huichol, Mexico   God of Deer Peyote; Peyote mushroom festival. Source: The Daily Bleed   Feast day of Khepera, Egypt The Beetle God. Rootworm Beetle Dip 2 cup low-fat cottage cheese 1 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice 2 tablespoons skim milk 1/2 cup reduced calorie mayonnaise 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped 1 tablespoon onion, chopped 1 1/2 tsp. dill weed 1 1/2 tsp. Beau Monde 1 cup dry-roasted rootworm beetles Blend first 3 ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and chill (out?). Source   Runic half month of Gyfu commences Gyfu represents the unity that a gift brings between giver and receiver.    World Angel Day    "Learn to build a bridge between heaven and earth, transform yourself and, er, heal the world. Well that's the idea anyway. Diana Cooper, Paul Armitage, Eterna and Mark Hughes tell you how at the Kensington Town Hall. "A couple of years ago, Diana Cooper was woken in the night by a gaggle of chatty angels. While embracing her with love, joy and inspiration they encouraged her to write a book about them, and stayed with her for three weeks until it was successfully completed. The book now shifts thousands and thousands of copies all over the world. "Soon after it was finished, Diana decided to share her unearthly experiences with the world. The first World Angel Day was held in October 2001 and sold out three months in advance, hence the decision to repeat the celebrations. Expect guided meditations, heavenly music, seminars and maybe, just maybe, a meeting with the higher realm."   Source   Teachers' Day (Confucius's birthday), Taiwan Today is one traditional date of birth of the Chinese sage. Another is July 27 (551 - 479 BCE). "Somewhat 'Confucingly' to Westerners, the birthday of this sage is celebrated on two separate days. September 28, his birthday in the Western solar calendar, is also known as National Teacher's [sic] Day in the Republic of China, in memory of the importance that Confucius placed on learning and scholarship, and his radical populist doctrine that knowledge was the right of everyone, not just the privilege of the aristocracy. His birthday is also marked in the Chinese lunar calendar, however, and falls on the 27th day of the eighth lunar month (between the end of September and the beginning of November)."   Source   St Michael's Eve (Michaelmas Eve) In Celtic cultures such as that of Scotland, bonfires were burned tonight, and the traditional meal was roast lamb, the eating of which was followed by singing and dancing. A special cake (bannock) was baked, called Struan Micheil (St Michael Bannock; St Michael Cake; Struan Michael; St Michael Bread; Struan Michel; St Michael's Bannock; St Michael's Cake; St Michael's Bread) made of oats, barley and rye (the fruits of the harvest), for eating tomorrow on St Michael's Day. Here's one bannock recipe, and lots more. "As the bannock gains consistency in the firing it is covered on both sides with three successive layers of a batter of cream, eggs and butter, in the manner of the Beltane bannock. Various ingredients are introduced into small struan as cranberries, blackberries, brambles, caraways and wild honey." F Marian McNeill, The Scots Kitchen: Its lore and recipes   Source "In Scotland, St. Michael was the patron saint of fisherman and horseman and in the Hebrides,