Happy Sts Cyril and Methodius day!

Today is the Fourteenth of February. Why do we spell 14 "fourteen," but 40 "forty"? It's not a joke, it's a legitimate question. Anyone want to offer an answer?

The number 4o is different from the number 4 in Russian, too, but even more so than in English: for 4, they say "ch-tir'-ee," while for 40 the word is simply "sor'-ok." No apparent semantic relationship: no roots in common, not even any letters in common. I don't speak any other languages- if you speak any aside from English, I'm interested in how they deal with 4 and 40. Ask your friends! Is this just a European thing? Is it just a Romance thing, which happened to somehow also get reflected in a Slavic language? I'm genuinely curious! Also, if you speak Russian and happen to have some insight into the 4/40 thing, I'd love to hear about it.

Support Senator Leahey's Bush Truth Commission! We need to at least air that dirty laundry.

I Hate Banks news: Microbusiness on the rise! This in particular is very exciting news for anyone who's ever disliked banks. Go, Zopa!

Bang the drum

Today is the Eleventh of February. On this day in 1355, the St. Scholastica’s Day Riot continued in Oxford, England, after a dispute between students and locals over a beer escalated into armed conflict. The riot raged for two days in all, leaving 63 scholars and as many as 30 locals dead. The dispute was settled in favour of the university with a special charter, according to which, on February 10, the town mayor and councillors had to march bareheaded through the streets and pay to the university a fine of one penny for every scholar killed. The penance ended in 1825 when the mayor refused to take part.

In 1858, Bernadette Soubirous saw the figure of a woman in white, whom she later identified as the virgin Mary, near Lourdes, France. The two girls who were with her, saw nothing.

Bang the drum-make some noise! It's good for you! ...I wonder if it matters if the rhythm isn't musical? I mean, does it count if you're just drumming your fingers on the steering wheel? Would it help as much if you were using a wooden spoon on a frying pan? How about a metal spoon on a cymbal? Don't laugh- this is someone's doctoral thesis waiting to happen! Alas, I'm only curious enough to generate the questions; nowhere near motivated enough to go through with the research. Music therapy isn't exactly my field.

Instead, I'm thinking about picking up my work on -yes, you guessed it-- Moche nose ornaments again. Actually, new findings re: the Nazca have given my old theory new life. Remember, Ted: don't get it right; get it written.

Feast of St. Carmen

Today is the Ninth of February. On this day in 1825, John Quincy Adams was elected President, in the first election to be decided by the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 1895, Wm. G. Morgan invented a game called Mintonette, for those who thought basketball would be too strenuous. This game involved hitting the basketball over a rope; it would later be known as Volleyball.

In 1909, Carmen Miranda was born.

In 1913, a group of three or four luminous bodies with tails moved across the sky with a 'peculiar majestic deliberation', according to the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Another one followed, and another. There were 30 or 32 in all, according to one observer, in strict formation. Some compared them to a fleet of battleships in the air. They were seen in Canada, USA, Bermuda and from the sea. There was another procession over Toronto the next day, only this time there were seven or eight dark non-luminous bodies, which moved across the sky and back.