With the debut of Ape Con Myth’s time-shattering new calendar just a few days away, creation and duration have been on the mind.
For more on those subjects, we look to the beautiful and eerie illustrations of Michael Wohlgemut and Wilhelm Pleydenwurff from the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicles, which deal with a particular creation said to take seven days…
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[via Ptak Science Books]
The problem with holidays given a specific date, such as the 4th of July or December 25th, is that they regularly fall in the middle of the week. While Wednesday is a fine day to take off if you’re sick or need to run some errands, calling it a holiday can be a bit of a stretch. Most weekends don’t even earn the title, so what are we supposed to do with one day, have a parade?
Of all the problems in the world, this one was addressed by Congress back in 1968. With the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Columbus Day and Veterans Day were turned into guaranteed three-day weekends.
Although Congress changed their tune on Veterans Day, returning it to November 11th in 1975, we still enjoy four Monday holidays, including Labor Day, thanks to this Act. The catch of course is: They are uniform Mondays. If you’ve ever spent one returning from a trip, you know they can fall short of feeling like a holiday too. After all, it’s still a Monday.
Sometimes you can’t win for losing, but when the idea is to make everything the same, … well, it wasn’t much of an idea to begin with. And speaking of, you can help make the next change in our holiday schedule by supporting the effort to turn Columbus Day into Exploration Day! For the why try Boing Boing, otherwise head on over to ExplorationDayUSA.org to find out what you can do.
[Image from the National Archives]
We hear about it from time to time, but what do we really know about the International Space Station? For those to whom it is still just a name, behold…
This is what it looks like…
(click to enlarge)
This is how big it is…
These are the pieces it is made of…
(click to enlarge)
This is what is meant by international…
(click to enlarge)
And this is how awesome it is to be around..
(click to enlarge)
Oh look! Occupy Wall Street made an invitation for their Anniversary Action and forgot to color it in!
They were probably busy putting the finishing touches on plans for nine days of actions and events starting Saturday, September 15th.
Let’s do our part by coloring the invites and sending them out to our friends!
Be sure to share your version with the social network(s) of your choice and here in the comments for a chance at a free Ape Con Myth something or other!
Meanwhile, find out everything you need to know for the anniversary at #S17 , including actions in your area and this handy pdf breaking down what’s happening in NYC.
Giddy up!
No matter who you are or what you do, you’ll likely join the rest of us in breathing a sigh of relief for not being born any earlier than you were. As Vonnegut put it in Cat’s Cradle, “History! Read it and weep!” And weep is what you might do looking through this collection of vintage motivational cards from the early 1900’s. While suggestive of ideas that might propel one to action, you can almost taste the condescension and extrapolate from it the working conditions that might have acted as the side dish to our past toiling.
As you return to your labor today, be thankful that its 2012 and not 1912, 1812 or worse. And for all those reading from 2112, Despair, Inc. will give you a glimpse of how twisted things were in the early part of the 21st century.
[via imprint]
Ape Con Myth has joined the list of organizations supporting the Declaration of Internet Freedom and encourages you to take a second, read the Declaration below and then click through to take action.
It’d be so easy to mess this up. Thankfully it is just as easy to not do so.
Act today and save yourself from more of CISPA/TPP/ACTA/SOPA/PIPA/COICA/ETC tomorrow!
A page from “A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism” by James Clerk Maxwell, 1873 via Wired’s The Classic, Beautiful and Controversial Books That Changed Science Forever.
Long exposure shot from the International Space Station…
From NASA astronaut Don Pettit‘s ISS Star Trails photo set
[via PetaPixel]
