Celebrate Every Day

Have You Ever Called 311? Turns Out There's Lots Of Good Reasons Why You Should.

Welcome to March 11, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate useful tools and services and a “pay it forward” folklore legend.

Marlo: Since the Dawn of Time civilization has been defined by its discovery of tools.

Guy: I have made fire!!  

Woman: Who’s been drawing on the cave walls again!

Marlo: And every age is defined by the source of those tools

Guy: This is…. so much easier than before.

Women: Look out for that pothole!

Marlo: Some tools are crucial to our survival

Guy: Nearly finished and not a moment too soon.

Woman: It’s getting awfully noisy around here.  

I hope the neighbors don’t complain.

Marlo: And some tools are just, well - cool.

Guy: Perry, thrust, thrust

Woman: Grrrr.  Be careful with that thing.

Marlo: With every new tool comes a new age of enlightenment.  

Guy: Hey, get out of the road!

Woman: I don’t think we can park here.

Marlo: On National Worship Of Tools Day…

Woman: I thought we were celebrating National 311 Day?

Guy: What’s that?

Woman: 311 is the number you call to report non-emergencies like potholes, graffiti, noisy neighbors and illegal parking.  So you don’t tie up the other number that handles actual emergencies.

Operator: 311 what’s the nature of your call?

Woman: There is a pothole at the corner of Maple and Main that is swallowing cars.

Operator: You don't say.

There’s a theory that the apple was spread across Europe by bears. But here in the United States we give that credit to a folklore legend. If you’ve ever had an apple from the orchard in Ashland County, Ohio, then you know that Johnny Appleseed was all too real.  In the years following the American Revolution, John Chapman was seen walking for miles from his Massachusetts home, planting apple seeds and tending orchards. Though it’s not actually known if he traveled with a pot on his head, his legacy of kindness can be sampled from a tree that stands to this day.  On National Johnny Appleseed Day, take a bite of American folklore and pay it forward wherever you go. 

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson.  Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

Did You Grow Up Playing Video Games With Mario And Luigi?

Welcome to March 10, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a lunch with more punch and a cartoon conversion. 

If packing your lunch involves some sort of brown paper bag, you’re probably missing all the fun.  Sure it’s practical and economical, not to mention healthy to pack your own lunch.  But can you remember when lunchboxes meant something cool?  Chances are you carried the metal kind to school, as the very first lunch box came out in 1935.  It was more of an oval than a box and Mickey Mouse and the Steamboat Willie gang became the first ever licensed characters to appear on a lunch kit.  Back then it cost 10 to 20 cents but today, a vintage lunchbox can fetch up to $2,000!   Don’t just brown bag it on National Pack Your Lunch Day. Pack yourself a little more fun.

Even people who don’t play video games know the name of Mario, the brave little plumber. But he wasn’t always the hero we know and love. In fact, he wasn’t even a plumber at first. In the game Donkey Kong, where he made his debut, Mario was a carpenter, running around smashing barrels with a hammer. And then in the sequel, Donkey Kong Junior, Mario was the bad guy. A really bad guy. As in he locks Donkey Kong in a cage and then throws robotic bear traps at the gorilla’s baby son who’s just trying to save his dad. Since then he has changed his stripes and become the most popular character in video game history.  On National Mario Day, we celebrate this turnaround from breaking bad to saving the Mushroom Kingdom.

National Promposal Day, National Worship of Tools Day, World Kidney Day 

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson.  Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

Welcome to March 9, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the original influencer and a cloudy forecast American style. 

62 years ago, Barbara Millicent Roberts made her debut in New York as a fashion icon and still looks like she hasn’t aged a day. Because she hasn’t. You probably know her as Barbie. Fame can be lonely, so her boyfriend Ken Carson was created a few years later and they’ve been a pair ever since. Well, almost. They did break up for a while in the early 2000s and Barbie started dating a surfer dude named Blaine Gordon. But she eventually grew tired of him and went back to Ken. I mean, the guy’s catchphrase was “That’s the bomb!” so it makes sense. On National Barbie Day, we celebrate someone who’s been an influencer longer than that job even existed.

Today’s forecast: cloudy with a chance of meatballs. Make note if you’re traveling through Italy, that they’re called polpettes.  Practically every culture has some form of this food.  Even IKEA is known for their tasty Swedish meatballs and no you don’t have to assemble them yourself.  More than one billion of them are served at the 430 stores every year.  It is supposed that meatballs started off in Persia and caught on as a convenient way to quickly cook up almost any type of meat. And if variety is your thing you can sample more than 54 variations at the Meatball Shop in New York city.  Celebrate National Meatball Day with your favorite pasta and sauce or make this world traveler the main event.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson.  Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

If Yoo Can Reed This Yer Not A Proofreeder!

Welcome to March 8, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate making mistakes and girls who break the mold. 

Anna: Today we celebrate proofreaders, the guardian angles…uh, guardian ANGELS of the written word. Without their stick attention to detail… Hang on, that should be STRICT attention to detail. Did anyone read this over before we went on air? 

Marlo: Not me. Thought that was Chris’ job.

Anna: Where is he?

John: I think he went out for coffee. Let’s keep rolling.

Anna: Okay…where was I? Editing is an important part of the writing process and when it’s done right it makes everything look East.

Marlo: Easy. 

Anna: What’s easy?

Marlo: The last word. It’s not East. It should say easy.

Anna: Great. Because nothing about this has been easy. It’s National Proofreading Day.

Women like Marie Curie and Rosa Parks not only made history, they changed the world.  Today, their footsteps are followed by some younger women who did not wait to grow up before making their mark.  Take Alexandra Scott, who was diagnosed with cancer before her first birthday.  By the age of 4, Alexandra set up a lemonade stand in her front yard to raise money for childhood cancer research.  Others followed her example and by the time of her passing in 2004, over one million dollars were raised for the cause. As a young girl, Malala created a blog detailing her life under Pakistani Taliban rule.  She was later shot by the Taliban for her promotion of human rights.  This survivor made history at just 15 years of age when she won the Nobel Peace Prize for her activism.  On International Women’s Day, we celebrate with Malala’s wish to let every girl know her voice can change the world. 

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson.  Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

Some Call Them Pancakes. Others Call Them Flapjacks. But If You Order Them In The UK, You Might Be Surprised At What You Get.

Welcome to March 7, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate the many names for breakfast. 

Americans speak the same language as folks over in England, but there are a lot of differences. Especially when it comes to what we call things. Here, you take an elevator to travel between floors. But in the UK, you take a lift. And of course, what we call cookies, they call biscuits. Today we celebrate one of our favorite breakfast foods—one that’ll cause some confusion if you’re overseas. In the United States, if you order flapjacks, you’re going to get a stack of pancakes, likely smothered in delicious butter and maple syrup. If you do the same across the Atlantic, or maybe even in parts of Canada, you’ll end  up being served a…granola bar? Travelers beware. It’s National Flapjack Day and wherever you are, enjoy your favorite breakfast. 

Cereal appeals to the kid in all of us.  You may find it curious that all the brightly colored boxes promising a toy inside did not start out that exciting at all.  And while Kellogg’s Corn Flakes were the first cereal to provide a prize inside the box in 1909, they were originally designed to be boring. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg  believed that a bland diet would curb our sinful human nature and Corn Flakes were his first line of defense.  The cereal later took a ride aboard Apollo 11, where they were formed into cubes to be eaten without milk.  Few other cereals have such an illustrious history, though some have enough sugar to rocket your kids to the moon and back.  On National Cereal Day, celebrate your inner child with a bowl full of crunchy goodness. 

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson.  Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

Did You Know That Oreos Had Some Stiff Competition?

Welcome to March 6, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a flash of genius and one tough cookie. 

Not everyone who goes ice fishing will come up with a million dollar idea, but Clarence Frank Birdseye II noticed something about the fish he caught in the minus forty degree weather of Newfoundland.  The year was 1915 and young Clarence discovered the delicious difference between these fish that were flash frozen versus the kind that were mushy when thawed.  He developed a patent for this technology, without any idea that frozen food would eventually become a staple.  And while his company Birdseye Seafood went bankrupt in 1924 for lack of interest in his product, he continued to refine the revolutionary process until he sold his company and patent in 1929 for $22 million.  On National Frozen Food Day we celebrate the flash of genius that keeps our freezers stocked.

Two crunchy chocolate cookies with cream filling between them.  We all know this describes an Oreo, right?  If you asked someone that question in the early 1900s, they would have given you a different answer:  Hydrox.  When Oreos made their debut in 1912, Hydrox had already been on the market for 4 years and Oreos were seen as a knockoff cookie.  In fact, Hydrox launched ad campaigns to make sure consumers knew that the new cookies were imposters.  And it almost worked.  For years, Oreos didn’t make any money for the Nabisco company.  It took a strong ad strategy and a redesign, but in the 1950s, Oreos overtook their rival in popularity and Hydrox began to look like the imposter.  On National Oreo Cookie Day, celebrate this classic with a glass of milk and maybe a twist. 

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson.  Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

Have You Ever Been Visited By The Green Fairy?

Welcome to March 5, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate with green fairies and orange fingers.

Absinthe is one of the strongest liqueurs you can buy, sometimes going as high as 160 proof. Over the years it gained a bad reputation, because one of its ingredients, wormwood, could supposedly cause hallucinations or madness. But wormwood used to have very different uses. In fact, drinks infused with the herb started out as a type of medicine. Despite its gross-sounding name, it was used a lot in Chinese medicine. And in the 1900s, Chinese soldiers discovered that drinks containing an extract from this plant could help fight off malaria. Though we wouldn’t recommend drinking absinthe as medicine.  If you have a glass of the green liqueur to celebrate National Absinthe Day, all you’ll get is tipsy.

If making a mess is your idea of good time, then dive right in and celebrate the cheese doodle. Morrie Yohai had a knack for snacks and came up with the name for the cornmeal puffs, while he and his coworkers tried various flavorings.  Despite leaving telltale orange fingerprints, cheddar cheese hit the spot and the Old London Company made its mark with this snack food.  It was later purchased by Borden Foods and Yohai became the new company Vice President. Along with his various executive duties, he also had the privilege of choosing small toy prizes that went inside the boxes of Cracker Jacks. Which just goes to show that being a kid at heart can pay off big. On National Cheese Doodle Day, seize the day with this messy snack.

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson.  Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

Did You Hear The One About The Band Geek And The Football Player Who Met On The Field And Became Friends?

Welcome to March 4, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a handy rule of thumb and band geeks. 

Grammar is a manual for language. With it we learn everything from when to use periods and various verb tenses. But here’s a rule that you probably use without being aware of it. When stringing together adjectives, there’s a specific order in which you need to put the words: opinion-size-age-shape-color-origin-material-purpose. Confused? Don’t be because you do it every day. For example, you could say “beautiful, large, old, green, wooden door.” If you said “green, beautiful, wooden, large, old door” you’d sound like you hit your head. But you already knew that, smarty pants. So celebrate National Grammar Day with some reading or maybe watch a movie. Something like “My Fat Greek Big Wedding.” I mean “My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

Not all battles end in victory for geeks. In the 1982 Cal versus Stanford football game in which the Golden Bears scored a touchdown in the last four seconds, one trombone player proved a formidable foe.  Believing that the game was over, the Stanford Marching Band took to the field in celebration, only to be tackled at the 20 yard line by player Kevin Moen.  After five lateral passes and some legendary maneuvers, the famous Big Game ended in a 25 to 20 victory for the Bears.  While Gary Tyrell appeared on the Tonight Show, the trombone player commented that he thought he would be famous for his talent as a musician, not for being knocked down on the football field.  He and Kevin Moen are friends to this day.  On Marching Music Day we celebrate the geeks who make our hearts beat faster in the drum lines, drill squads and color guards. 

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson.  Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

This Bologna Has A First Name And It's S-e-r-i-o-u-s!

Welcome to March 3, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a serious sandwich and a song we all know by heart. 

Anyone who’s packed a school lunch has eaten a bologna sandwich at some point. This lunchbox staple has very distinguished origins. As the name would imply, it was created in Bologna, Italy, where it is known as Mortadella. This cured meat was eaten by Roman soldiers over 2,000 years ago. It became a food coveted by nobility, and its popularity grew so much that people began making counterfeit versions. This became such a problem that in the 1600s a law was passed that made counterfeiting mortadella punishable by death. Talk about taking your lunch seriously. But make no mistake: Mortadella, which you can still buy by that name is a far superior product. Think of it as gourmet bologna. Celebrate National Cold Cuts Day with a sandwich made of fresh cut deli meats. Just make sure you ask for the real stuff.

The United States won its independence in 1776, but did you know that the British tried to take their colonies back? At least they hoped to restrict America’s ability to trade and expand her territories, and for this the United States took on the greatest naval power in the world. Of all the major battles waged, Fort McHenry alone was bombarded by the British navy for nearly 25 hours straight.  We can only imagine that the sound was deafening.  On the quiet morning that followed, the sight of our tattered flag still flying in the smoke filled sky symbolizes our relief.  Our Nation stood firm and sovereign and our sacrifices were not in vain.  On National Anthem Day, we celebrate The Star Spangled Banner penned by Francis Scott Key that remains the symbol of freedom that we all know by heart. 

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson.  Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

Did You Watch The Game Show $100,000 Pyramid?

Welcome to March 2, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate golden oldies and loveable authors.

Anna: Hey Marlo did you ever watch the game show $100,000 Pyramid?

Marlo: Hosted by Dick Clark? Of Course I did!

Anna: You wanna play?

Marlo: Sure!

Anna:  All the clues will be things that are old.  Ready? These items come in 33s, 45s, 78s and are played on a turntable.

Marlo: Vinyl Records.

Anna: This Rolling Stone is known for his strut and pouty lips and is now a great grandfather.

Marlo: Mick Jagger.

Anna: This guy began his career at World Book Encyclopedias and is now the keeper of the calendar.

Marlo: Hey!  I resemble that remark.

Anna:  Happy National Old Stuff Day, Marlo.

And now for a National Read Across America Day tradition on our show a poem by Chris Cecot:

There are books about pirates and books about Dizzles.

Poems of monkeys who dance when it drizzles.

If you let yourself dream with a rhyme or a book

To a wonderful, magical place you’ll be took.

So hop on a train or ride the caboose.

Cuz today we celebrate the good Dr Seuss.

Happy Dr. Seuss Day!

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson.  Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.