20 September: Upton Sinclair Quotes

Born on this date in 1878 was Upton Sinclair, US writer. Sinclair wrote 80 books. His best known novel was The Jungle, an expose of the appalling and unsanitary conditions in the meat-packing industry. He won the 1942 Pulitzer Prize for the novel Dragon's Teeth. 10 Quotes:

1. It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.

2. It is foolish to be convinced without evidence, but it is equally foolish to refuse to be convinced by real evidence.

3. Fascism is capitalism plus murder.

4. The private control of credit is the modern form of slavery.

5. There is one kind of prison where the man is behind bars, and everything that he desires is outside; and there is another kind where the things are behind the bars, and the man is outside.

6. Pessimism is mental disease. It means illness in the person who voices it, and in the society which produces that person.

7. I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.

8. All art is propaganda. It is universally and inescapably propaganda; sometimes unconsciously, but often deliberately, propaganda.

9. I know that our liberties were not won without suffering, and may be lost again through our cowardice.

10. They use everything about the hog except the squeal.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

19 September: Barometers

On this date in 1648 Florin Perier demonstrated the barometer. 10 things you might not know about barometers.

1. The word barometer was coined by Robert Boyle in the mid 1600s by combining the Greek words for measuring and weight.

2. The first Mercury barometer was created in 1600s by an Italian physicist and mathematician called Evangelista Torricelli, who was a student of Galileo.

3. Florin Perier was Blaise Pascal’s brother-in-law, married to Pascal’s sister Gilberte. He was the one Pascal persuaded to climb a Mountain to test his theory about air pressure. Pascal himself was in poor health and unable to climb the mountain himself. The mountain in question was the Puy de Dôme, at a height of 4,790 feet (1,460 m).

4. Before modern barometers, people used simple devices using Water to measure air pressure and tell when a storm was on its way. One such device was the 'Donderglas' ('thunder-glass' in Dutch) or 'Dutch water barometer' consisting of a vessel and a spout. The level of water in the spout would rise or fall depending on the air pressure.

5. Initially, barometers were used to measure height above sea level, but people started noticing that measurements varied according to the weather. They soon figured out this was a way to predict the weather.

6. From there, they soon became status symbols; talking points that rich people had on display in their homes.

7. Barometers with a round display with a needle pointing to weather-terms such as 'stormy', 'Rain', 'change', 'fair', and 'dry' are called aneroid barometers. The aneroid barometer was invented by French scientist Lucien Vidi in 1844. It works by having a sealed chamber that expands or contracts as the air pressure varies, which is connected to a mechanical system including a pointer.

8. Another type of aneroid barometer is a barograph, which has a revolving drum around which Paper is wrapped, and a nib and ink. The changes in pressure over a period of time can be recorded on the paper as the drum turns.

9. Many modern smart phones have pressure sensors built into the design to pick up changes in weather and to calculate your current altitude. So you may have a portable barometer in your pocket.

10. There’s a man in Spain who has gone as far as to have a barometer implant installed in the back of his head. His name is Manel Muñoz and he’s a cyborg artist. In 2017, he had a chip put in that detected pressure changes. At first, the chip was connected to transmitters in his ears so he could tell the air pressure by the sound. I’m guessing this became rather annoying, like tinnitus, which may be why he had it updated with small motors that vibrate directly through his skull. If the left side of his head vibrates, it means low pressure and possible storms, and if the right side vibrates it means the weather will be fine.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

18 September: I Dream of Jeannie

On this date in 1965, I Dream Of Jeannie, TV Comedy starring Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman, debuted on NBC. 10 facts about the show.

1. For those not familiar with it, I Dream of Jeannie is an American fantasy sitcom television series created by Sidney Sheldon. The show starred Barbara Eden as a 2,000-year-old genie from the fictional nation of Basenji, and Larry Hagman as astronaut Captain Tony Nelson.

2. The pilot episode was called The Lady in the Bottle. In it, Tony Nelson’s capsule, Stardust, lands on a deserted island miles from the planned recovery location. He finds a strange bottle that rolls around by itself. He opens it, rubs it, and out comes a beautiful female genie who only speaks Persian, and has been trapped in the bottle for two thousand years. Tony’s first wish is that she gains the ability to speak English. His second is for the recovery Helicopter to show up and find them. Jeannie is already in love with Tony and so she rolls her bottle into his bag to make sure he takes her home.

3. Jeannie’s bottle was a Jim Beam Whiskey decanter, which was painted and decorated with gold leaf. The inside of it was a set on a sound stage, which Barbara Eden had to climb an eight foot Ladder to get into.

4. Jeannie’s efforts to help Tony and make him fall in love with her raise the suspicions of Tony's commanding officer, Colonel Dr. Alfred Bellows, who is also a psychiatrist. He is often the only other person to witness Jeannie's magic and Tony’s efforts to cover it up, and is convinced that Tony is going mad or has a secret.

5. Jeannie has an evil Twin, Jeannie II, who appears in series 3. She dresses in Green rather than Pink and has dark hair. She was played by Barbara Eden in a brunette Wig.

6. The theme music was a song called Jeannie, composed by Hugo Montenegro with lyrics by Buddy Kaye. At least, it was from series 2. The theme for series 1 was an instrumental jazz waltz written by Richard Wess. For some reason, a theme song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King before the show ever aired, was never used.

7. Larry Hagman was drinking heavily at the time the show was being made and was frequently drunk on set. The producers almost fired him because they found him so difficult to work with, and had Darren McGavin lined up to replace him, and a storyline written to explain the change. However, the studio executives vetoed that. Barbara Eden, however, got on with Hagman really well and said in interviews later that she had a connection with him she’d never found with any other actor. The pair were also friends off screen and remained so until Hagman died in 2012.

8. This was the 1960s and so there were some strict rules to follow. Jeannie’s belly button could never be shown and extra layers had to be added to her costume’s bottom half so her legs didn’t show through it.

9. There were also strict rules to ensure that if Tony and Jeannie were ever alone in his bedroom, at least one of them had to be shown leaving the room so nobody could even imagine they got up to anything in there when the camera stopped rolling. It was even forbidden for her bottle to be left in Tony’s bedroom.

10. The decision to have Tony and Jeannie get married in season 5 was made by the network in a bid to improve ratings. Barbara Eden disagreed with this plot development. A genie isn’t human, she argued, so a marriage was probably not even possible (although in season 1 there is a reveal that Jeannie was human once, a girl from a peasant family, and had been turned into a genie by "The Blue Djinn.") Also, it removed the “Will they, won’t they?” tension between the characters and if Jeannie became a housewife it simply wouldn’t be as funny. Another of Eden’s arguments was that it made the show too similar to the rival show of the time, Bewitched.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

17 September: 260

Today is the 260^th day of the year. 10 fun facts about 260.

1. 260 Days is a 2025 Croatian-American English language war drama film based on 2011 autobiographical historical novel of the same name by Marijan Gubina (born 1981) It's based on Gubina's experience of captivity in Serbian concentration camp for 260 days during Croatian War of Independence, from August 1, 1991, to April 16, 1992.

2. The Roman numeral for 260 is CCLX.

3. 260 Huberta is a large asteroid discovered by Johann Palisa in 1886 in Vienna and named after Saint Hubertus.

4. The A260 is a road in Kent, England, which connects the towns of Barham and Folkestone.

5. +260 is the international dialling code for Zambia.

6. Pre-Columbian Mesoamericans used 260-day calendars.260-day calendars are still used in the Guatemalan highlands, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico.

7. The year 260 was a leap year starting on Sunday, known as the Year of the Consulship of Saecularis and Donatus.

8. London bus route 260 runs between White City Bus Station and Golders Green Station.

9. In binary code, 260 is 100000100.

10. In numerology, 260 resonates with building things and doing business in cooperation with others. It has a comfortable understanding of business legalities and accounting.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

16 September: The Yeomen of the Guard

This date in 1485 saw the establishment of the Yeomen of the Guard, bodyguard of the English Crown, popularly known as Beefeaters. 10 things you might not know about them.

1. Or, at least, the date on the earliest known document that refers to them. In this document, one John Frye, a yeoman of the king's guard, is appointed to the office of Searcher at the port of Bristol.

2. The Yeomen were created by King Henry VII after the Battle of Bosworth Field and is the oldest British military corps still in existence. Of course, monarchs had bodyguards before this, but Henry wanted to reward his for their bravery and loyalty by creating a guard that would protect the King (or Queen) of England forever, of which they would be the first.

3. Their first official act was to escort Henry to his coronation on 1 October 1485. John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, led a company of fifty of them.

4. At that time, their primary function was protecting the monarch. This involved creating a physical shield around him wherever he went, even inside his palace, tasting his food and even standing guard in the king’s bedroom all night. In addition, they carried torches, served the King’s meals and made sure he had food and drink in his room in case he woke hungry or thirsty during the night. Making up the King’s Bed was another ritual, which involved stabbing the bed with daggers and jumping on it to spread out the bedding, and disturb any assassins who might be hiding in the bed.

5. This archaic function is reflected to this day in the names of two of the ranks: Yeoman Bed Hanger and Yeoman Bed Goer. Other ranks are Exon, Ensign, Lieutenant, Captain, Yeoman, Divisional Sergeant-Major and Messenger Sergeant-Major.

6. Today, their role is purely ceremonial. Their uniforms haven’t changed much since Tudor times and they still carry swords, although they are never used. There is an annual roll call and a Sovereign's Inspection about every five years. Their regular commitments include the annual Royal Maundy service, the Epiphany Service in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace, installations of Knights of the Garter, summer garden parties at Buckingham Palace and a ritual search of the cellars of the Palace of Westminster in advance of the State Opening of Parliament, a nod to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

7. Fancy joining the Yeomen? It will take a while. Since 1830 the requirements are that all candidates must have served in the British military for at least 22 years, must have attained the rank of sergeant or above, but not be a commissioned officer, and must have been awarded the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. Hence any new recruits will be at least 42 years of age, and retire at age 70.

8. The Yeomen of the Guard are not the same as the Yeomen Warders who guard the Tower of London, although their uniforms are almost identical. The Yeomen of the Guard can be distinguished by their cross belts, worn from the left shoulder.

9. The last time the Yeomen took place in a battle was the Battle of Dettingen in 1743 during the reign of King George II. It was after this that they became largely ceremonial, although King George V re-instated the guarding at the palace role during the first world war, and allowed them permission to join the regular forces and go fight if they wished.

10. Why are they called Beefeaters? Most likely because they tended to be quite beefy in build, but more relevantly, because they were allowed a generous daily meat ration.

For the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta click here: Yeomen of the Guard

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

15 September: Make a Hat Day

Today is Make a Hat Day. For those who celebrate, 10 quotations about hats.

1. A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in. Frederick the Great

2. Hats have power. Hats can change you into someone else. Catherynne M. Valente

3. How a hat makes you feel is what a hat is all about. Philip Treacy

4. Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day. EB White

5. Never try to wear a hat that has more character than you do. Lance Morrow

6. People get to like a soul, but a satisfactory hat makes an impression at first sight. Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie

7. I have an American top hat that's collapsible and works as a frisbee. Jackson Rathbone

8. A hat should be taken off when you greet a lady and left off for the rest of your life. Nothing looks more stupid than a hat. PJ O'Rourke

9. Never run after you own hat – others will be delighted to do it; why spoil their fun? Mark Twain

10. If your brains were dynamite there wouldn't be enough to blow your hat off. Kurt Vonnegut 

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

14 September: Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse was born on this date in 1983. 10 things you might not know about her.

1. Amy Jade Winehouse was born at Chase Farm Hospital, Enfield, London. Her father was a taxi driver and her mother a pharmacist. The family were Jewish, something Amy was proud of, although she wasn’t religious.

2. Music was in her blood. She had several uncles who were Jazz musicians and her father’s mother once dated Ronnie Scott. Her father loved to sing as well, and even released an album of his own in 2010, called Rush of Love.

3. When Amy was about 10, she teamed up with her friend, Juliette Ashby to form a hip hop duo. Inspired by the rap group Salt-N-Pepa, they called themselves Sweet ‘n’ Sour. In a 2004 interview, Amy said, “I was sour, of course.“ They even managed to make a small number of studio recordings: Glam Chicks, Boys … Who Needs Them and Spinderella.

4. At 12, she was admitted to the Sylvia Young Theatre School. She attended there for two years before being expelled for "not applying herself" and piercing her own nose. At 16, she made her debut with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. At 19, she signed with manager Nick Godwyn of 19 Entertainment, a company founded by Simon Fuller, the man behind Pop Idol and the Spice Girls.

5. “They” really did try to make her go to Rehab. In 2005 her manager Nick Shymansky was among those urging her to get help for her excessive drinking. Amy claimed at the time that she wasn’t an alcoholic, she just had a broken heart. She did, however, eventually give in and go to rehab in 2008.

6. Amy Winehouse was the first British female artist to win five Grammys at one ceremony, in 2008, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist. Her record was beaten by Adele in 2012.

7. Artists who have credited Amy Winehouse as an influence include Adele, Duffy, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Jessie J, Emeli Sandé, Paloma Faith, Lana Del Rey, Florence Welch and Billie Eilish. Patti Smith's This Is the Girl is a tribute to her, as is Green Day's Amy.

8. When she died, there were rumours circulating that she was in the process of adopting a 10-year-old girl from St Lucia, with whom she had formed a strong bond while staying on the island. It was even said that she would have moved to St Lucia permanently to achieve this. Winehouse's representative has denied it, however, saying the rumours were not true.

9. Her last recording was a duet, Body and Soul, with Tony Bennett. It was released on what would have been her 28th birthday.

10. Since her death, Amy’s family have set up a charity which works to prevent the effects of drug and alcohol misuse on young people, and to help disadvantaged youngsters reach their full potential. The Amy Winehouse Foundation was also launched on what would have been her 28^th birthday.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

13 September: 256

13 September is the 256^th day of the year. 10 fun facts about the number 256.

1. 256 is an important number in computing. One byte is equal to eight bits and has 256 possible values, counting from 0 to 255. The number 256 often appears in computer applications, for example, typical number of different values in each colour channel of a digital colour image.

2. It is 2 to the 8th power, and the only 8^th power number to have three digits. There’s an obsolete mathematical term for the 8^th power, dating back to when powers were written out in words rather than as superscript numbers. The word is zenzizenzizenzic. Hence, 256 is the only 3 digit number to be zenzizenzizenzic.

3. In Binary, 256 is 100000000.

4. 256 Walpurga is a large Main belt asteroid discovered by Johann Palisa in 1886 in Vienna and named after Saint Walburga.

5. The A256 is a major road running along the east coast of Kent between the Isle of Thanet, beginning on the edge of Broadstairs, and Dover. In 2015, dual carriageway sections of the A256 were identified as a possible relief for Operation Stack, for queueing Dover-bound freight vehicles along the road. Used a lot since Brex-shit, I suspect.

6. +256 is the international dialling code for Uganda.

7. 256 is a regional North American telephone area code serving northern Alabama, USA, including the cities of Huntsville and Florence.

8. London bus 256 runs from Miramar Way to Wincanton Road.

9. 256 Steps is a 2012 short film directed by Jessie Hawkes and Jake Hodge, and starring Neil J Barrow, Neil Radford and Eric Radford. A murder in 1870, which was never meant to happen, pitched a town into Groundhog Day mode, repeating the same day over and over again. It is up to two young adults in 2012 to break the curse on the parallel plane. However, the pair are are pulled into the time loop. Can they save the town?

10. In numerology, 256 is a nurturing and methodical energy. A person under its influence follows established guidelines and procedures for specific results. The person is cooperative, diplomatic, supportive, diligent and practical. It is also a whimsical energy which cherishes time with family.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

12 September: Charles Dudley Warner Quotes

Born this date in 1829 was Charles Dudley Warner, American essayist, novelist, and friend of Mark Twain, with whom he co-authored the novel The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. 10 quotes:

1. The excellence of a gift lies in its appropriateness rather than in its value.

2. There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it.

3. Lettuce is like conversation; it must be fresh and crisp, so sparkling that you scarcely notice the bitter in it.

4. Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough.

5. Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.

6. The boy who expects every morning to open into a new world finds that today is like yesterday, but he believes tomorrow will be different.

7. There is nothing that disgusts a man like getting beaten at chess by a woman.

8. One of the advantages of pure congregational singing is that you can join in the singing whether you have a voice or not. The disadvantage is that your neighbour can do the same.

9. There is but one pleasure in life equal to that of being called on to make an after-dinner speech, and that is not being called on to make one.

10. Few people can resist doing what is universally expected of them. This invisible pressure is more difficult to stand against than individual tyranny.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

11 September: Dijon

This date in 1944 was the Liberation Day of Dijon, France from Nazi occupation. 10 facts about Dijon.

1. Dijon is the capital of the Burgundy-Franche-Comté region of France.

2. It’s known for its Mustard since 1856, when Jean Naigeon decided to try using the juice of not quite ripe Grapes (verjuice) to make mustard instead of the traditional Vinegar.

3. It’s also famous for its Wine, and the blackcurrant liqueur crème de cassis. This liqueur, with white wine, makes the drink Kir, which was named after Félix Kir, a former mayor of Dijon.

4. Gustave Eiffel, best known for a tower in Paris, was born just outside Dijon. It’s said he also helped design Dijon’s marketplace, Les Halles Market, built in 1868.

5. The cathedral is called Notre Dame, and it’s famous for a small stone sculpture of an Owl known as La Chouette. According to local legend, it’s good luck to rub the sculpture with your left hand while making a wish. The owl is the symbol of the city, and visitors wanting to take a self-guided walking tour can do so by following the owl symbols.

6. In 2023, the population was 161,830.

7. It was once the seat of the powerful Dukes of Burgundy, and was on a strategic trade route, so in the middle ages it was a centre of art, learning and innovation.

8. Dijon holds an International and Gastronomic Fair every autumn. Every three years there is an international flower show, Florissimo.

9. The city’s nickname is “City of a Hundred Steeples.”

10. There are some spooky local legends. These include: The spirit of a gardener haunts the gardens of the Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy. He appears at the stroke of midnight, tending to the flowers and pruning the hedges. A less benevolent ghost is the Phantom Piper, who is said to wander the streets playing haunting tunes on a flute with the purpose of luring unsuspecting tourists into dark corners of the city, where strange, unexplained things happen to them. The forests nearby are said to have been the home of a fearsome dragon, at least until a knight came along and sealed it in a hidden lair. There’s also said to be a witch’s well in the surrounding countryside, a meeting place for witches far casting dark spells and a gateway to the underworld. Finally, an ancient treasure is said to be hidden somewhere within the city walls, but don’t bother looking for it – it’s cursed, and the person who finds it will suffer misfortune and despair.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

10 September: Terbium

This date in 1797 was the birthdate of Carl Mosander: Swedish chemist who discovered the element terbium. 10 facts about his discovery.

1. Terbium is silvery-white, rare earth metal that is malleable and ductile. It is soft enough to be cut with a knife. Pure terbium is stable in air but reacts with cold water.

2. Its chemical symbol is Tb and its atomic number is 65.

3. Its melting point is 1629 K (1356 °C/2473 °F)

4. Its boiling point is 3396 K (3123 °C/5653 °F)

5. Mosander discovered it in 1843, as an impurity in yttrium oxide. However, his discovery wasn’t confirmed for some time and it was 1905 before pure compounds were produced.

6. Like erbium and ytterbium, terbium is named after the village of Ytterby in Sweden.

7. It is twice as common in the Earth’s crust as silver, although that still makes it one of the rarer rare earth metals. It is never found in its pure form in nature, but is contained within minerals such as monazite, bastnasite and cerite.

8. Because it is rare and therefore expensive, it has few uses in industry. Its compounds fluoresce green in ultraviolet light, so it gets used in fluorescent lamps and Television and monitor cathode-ray tubes.

9. World production is 10 tonnes a year. The richest source at the moment is southern China, but a further rich supply was found in 2018 off the coast of Japan's Minamitori Island, which is said to be enough to meet global demand for 420 years.

10. Terbium has no biological role. It is mildly toxic and irritating if it comes into contact with Skin or Eyes. Its toxicity has not been investigated in detail.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

9 September: Otis Redding

Otis Redding, soul singer, sometimes nicknamed the "King of Soul", was born on this date in 1941. 10 facts about him.

1. Redding was born in Dawson, Georgia. His father was Otis Redding Sr. and his mother Fannie Roseman. He was the fourth of their six children, and their first son.

2. He was musical from a young age, singing in the church choir and learning to play the Guitar and Piano. At 10, he was taking singing lessons and learning to play Drums.

3. His father caught TB, and was often in hospital and unable to work, so Otis left school at 15 to help support the family. His day jobs included well digger and gasoline station attendant.

4. He got his break at a local talent contest called "The Teenage Party". At first, his backing musicians let him down somewhat, not matching him in talent. This was noticed by a local guitarist, Johnny Jenkins, who offered to play for him instead. Redding’s performance of Little Richard's Heebie Jeebies, accompanied by Jenkins, won him the contest. They continued to perform together and went on to win the contest 15 times.

5. A musical break wasn’t the only thing he got out of the Teenage Party. He also met his wife, Zelma Atwood, there when he was 18. They married in 1961.

6. His first hit was These Arms of Mine, which got to no. 20 on the R&B chart in 1963.

7. At one concert in 1963, it cost Redding and his band more to get sheet music printed for the resident musicians at the theatre than they earned for the concert. In later years, though, he earned enough to buy himself a 300-acre ranch in Round Oak, Georgia, which he called the Big O Ranch.

8. (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay is possibly Redding’s most famous hit. He wrote it after listening to Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles. Although when it came to recording it, he forgot the words at the end, which is why the fade out is of him whistling.

9. Redding was killed in a plane crash when he was just 26, three days after recording (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay. The plane crashed into a lake while flying Redding and his band from one gig to another. It had taken off despite bad weather warnings. Hence Redding was the first artist to have a number one hit posthumously on Billboard's "Hot 100" chart.

10. Had Redding lived, he would have recorded To Love Somebody, which Barry and Robin Gibb had written especially for him. The Bee Gees recorded it themselves and dedicated it to his memory. Redding was also a favourite of Peter Gabriel of Genesis when he was a teenager. Gabriel has said his song Sledgehammer was inspired by Redding.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

8 September: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

On this date in 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made their début on CBS. 10 things you might not know about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

1. They were created by two comic book artists called Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. They were struggling artists who were house mates in Northampton, Massachusetts. One November night in 1983, Eastman drew a Turtle standing on its hind legs, wearing a mask, with nunchucks strapped to its arms, as a joke, labelling it “Ninja Turtle”. They added three more turtles and “Teenage Mutant” to the title. In May 2012, the drawing sold at auction for $71,700.

2. Eastman and Laird developed the idea into a comic book, scraping together the cash to produce it, with just enough left in the kitty afterwards to run an ad. They called their new company Mirage Studios, because there was no actual studio, only their living room. At first, it was going to be a one-off comic book, but then it started selling, so they produced some more.

3. The Marvel superhero comic Daredevil was a significant influence. Splinter, the Turtles’ sensei, is a nod to Daredevil’s sensei, Stick. The Foot Gang, likewise, is a nod to the Hand Clan. There are parallels in the origin stories, too. Daredevil is created when Matt Murdock leaps in front of a runaway truck to save an old man, and gets hit in the face by a stray canister. The canister is full of radioactive stuff, which blinds Matt and gives him superpowers. In the Turtles comic, the same thing happens only instead of hitting the rescuer in the face the canister hits a box of baby turtles, and both fall down a manhole. The turtles, and Splinter, get soaked in the radioactive goo, which turns them into the characters we know today. Perhaps another nod to Daredevil is a storyline where Michelangelo is caught in an explosion and temporarily blinded.

4. Eastman and Laird initially explored Japanese names for the Turtles, but couldn’t come up with anything that actually worked. Renaissance artists, according to Laird, were “just quirky enough to fit the concept.”

5. The original comics were not child friendly. They were in black and white, were violent and the Turtles had foul mouths. When Playmates Toys came along and expressed interest in producing action figures and a cartoon series, the Turtles had to undergo a child friendly makeover. This is the point where they become jokers obsessed with Pizza, the villains more cartoon-like, many of them now robots so parents couldn’t complain if the Turtles smashed them. The catchphrases “Turtle Power!” and “Cowabunga!” were introduced to replace the swearwords. Eastman and Laird had the final say on how the characters turned out, but they remain to this day somewhat unhappy with many of the concessions they had to make.

6. In the comics, all the Turtles wear Red masks and are identified by the weapon they use. This, of course, was not acceptable for a kids’ show and so each Turtle got a signature colour, instead. Leonardo, the responsible and disciplined leader and strategist is Blue (his weapon is twin katanas). Raphael, the rebellious, aggressive one, is red (his weapon is twin sais). Donatello, the brains and tech guy, the team inventor, is Purple (his weapon is a staff). Michelangelo, the free spirited one, joker and party animal, is Orange (his weapon is nunchucks although in the UK, nunchucks are restricted so he was restricted to using a grappling hook instead).

7. Other characters include: Splinter the mutant Rat; April O'Neil, who is variously depicted as a news reporter, lab assistant or genius computer programmer and loves the colour Yellow; Casey Jones, a hockey mask-wearing vigilante who wants to date April; Shredder, a criminal mastermind, leader of the Foot Clan; Karai, a skilled martial artist who might be his daughter; Baxter Stockman, a mad scientist; Krang, an alien warlord from Dimension X; Bebop and Rocksteady, Shredder’s henchmen, a mutant warthog and Rhinoceros.

8. Michelangelo’s name was initially spelled wrongly as "Michaelangelo," presumably until the time someone who knew a bit about Renaissance artists pointed out the mistake.

9. In the 1990s, Raphael briefly left the group and joined the Mighty Mutanimals.

10. Parodies abounded, of course. Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters, and Pre-Teen Dirty-Gene Kung-Fu Kangaroos are two examples, and British television series Spitting Image featured a recurring sketch titled "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turds". More seriously, NASA’s Multi-Purpose Logistics Module has a Ninja Turtle on its logo.

7 September: Grandma Moses

Today is Grandma Moses Day, which celebrates the American artist of that name, who was born on this date in 1860. 10 facts about her:

1. Her actual name was Anna Mary Robertson Moses. Born in Greenwich, New York, she had four sisters and five brothers. Her father was a farmer who ran a flax mill.

2. Her painting career didn’t begin until she was 78, but that didn’t mean she’d never painted at all before then. As a child, she would draw and paint on Paper her father bought for a penny a sheet. In those days she’d paint using Lemon juice, grass, ground ochre, Flour paste, slaked lime, and sawdust.

3. She only attended school briefly, but the school she went to is now a museum and has the largest collection of her works in the United States.

4. She entered domestic service at the age of 12. One of her employers encouraged her interest in art and bought her art materials.

5. She met her husband, Thomas Salmon Moses, at work – he was a hired hand at a farm where she worked. She met him at the age of 27. They had 10 children but only five survived. I’m guessing she didn’t have much time for painting at this time. Thomas died from a heart attack at 67. She continued to run the farm for a while with the help of one of her sons, but in due course retired and went to live with one of her daughters.

6. Before getting into painting, her hobby was Embroidery and quilting, making gifts for friends and family. She gave that up when arthritis made sewing too painful. Her sister suggested that painting might be easier, and the rest is history.

7. Initially, she sold her paintings in a local drug store for as little as $3 each. An art collector called Louis J. Caldor spotted her work in the window and bought up the lot. A year later, she had three paintings in New York's Museum of Modern Art as part of an exhibition called "Contemporary Unknown American Painters". Her first solo exhibition was in 1940, making her 79 or 80 years old at the time. It was in New York and called “What a Farm Wife Painted". Her exhibitions would also include samples of baked goods and preserves that she had made as well as the pictures.

8. One of her best known paintings is called Sugaring Off, a detailed scene featuring people boiling sap to create Maple syrup. This picture was made into a US postage stamp in 1969, and sold for $1.2 million in 2006. Her paintings were also used by Hallmark greetings cards.

9. Some critics dissed her for sprinkling glitter over winter scenes, because they thought it made her look amateurish. She stood her ground and carried on doing it, because she thought glitter captured the appearance of snow shimmering in sunlight.

10. Her autobiography, titled My Life's History, was published in 1952.