Does today count?

Let's start by taking a closer look at the date and it's status:

February 29

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

February 29 is a date that occurs only every four years, in years evenly divisible by 4, such as 1988, 1996, 2008 or 2016 (with the exception of century years not divisible by 400, such as 1900). These are called leap years, and February 29 is the 60th day of the Gregorian calendar in such a year, with 306 days remaining until the end of that year. February 29 is also known as bissextile day or Leap Day.

Events

• 1504 - Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Native Americans to provide him with supplies.
• 1704 - Queen Anne's War: French forces and Native Americans stage a raid on Deerfield, Massachusetts, killing 100 men, women, and children.
• 1712 - February 29 is followed by February 30 in Sweden, in a move to abolish the Swedish calendar for a return to the Old style.
• 1720 - Queen Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden abdicates in favour of her husband, who becomes King Frederick I.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Kilpatrick-Dahlgren Raid fails - Plans to free 15,000 Union soldiers being held near Richmond, Virginia are thwarted.
• 1892 - St. Petersburg, Florida incorporated.
• 1916 - Child labor: In South Carolina, the minimum working age for factory, mill, and mine workers is raised from twelve to fourteen years old.
• 1932 - TIME magazine features eccentric American politician William "Alfalfa" Murray on its cover after Murray stated his intention to run for President of the United States.
• 1936 - Baby Snooks, played by Fanny Brice, debuts on the radio program The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air.
• 1940 - For her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African American to win an Academy Award.
• 1940 - Finland initiates Winter War peace negotiations
• 1940 - In a ceremony held in Berkeley, California, because of the war, physicist Ernest Lawrence receives his 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics from the Sweden's Consul General in San Francisco.
• 1944 - World War II: The Admiralty Islands are invaded in the American General Douglas MacArthur-led Operation Brewer.
• 1952 - The island of Heligoland is restored to German authority.
• 1956 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces to the nation that he is running for a second term.
• 1960 - An earthquake in Morocco kills over 3,000 people and nearly destroys Agadir in the southern part of the country.
• 1964 - In Sydney, Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser sets a new world record in the 100-meter freestyle swimming competition (58.9 seconds).
• 1972 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - South Korea withdraws 11,000 of its 48,000 troops from Vietnam.
• 1972 - Hank Aaron becomes the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to sign a $200,000 contract.
• 1984 - Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announces he will retire as soon as the Liberals can elect another leader.
• 1988 - South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is arrested along with 100 clergymen during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town
• 1996 - Novelist Joan Collins awarded US $1 million from Random House for breach of contract.
• 1996 - A Peruvian Boeing 737 crashes in the Andes, killing 123 people.
• 2000 - Six year old Dedrick Owens shoots and kills Kayla Rolland, also six years old, at Theo J. Buell Elementary School in Mount Morris Township, Michigan.
• 2004 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigns as President of Haiti following popular rebel uprising.

Births

A person who was born on February 29 may be called a "leapling". In non-leap years they may celebrate their birthday on 28 February or 1 March.

For legal purposes, their legal birthdays depend on how different laws count time intervals. In England and Wales the legal birthday of a leapling is 28 February in common years (see Leap Years, above). In Taiwan the legal birthday of a leapling is also February 28 in common years. In both cases, a person born on February 29, 1980 would have legally reached 18 years old on February 28, 1998.

"If a period fixed by weeks, months, and years does not commence from the beginning of a week, month, or year, it ends with the ending of the day which proceeds the day of the last week, month, or year which corresponds to that on which it began to commence. But if there is no corresponding day in the last month, the period ends with the ending of the last day of the last month.^[2]"

There are many instances in children's literature where a person's claim to be only a quarter of their actual age turns out to be based on counting their leap-year birthdays. A similar device is used in the plot of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance. Frederic, born on February 29, was apprenticed to a band of pirates until his 21st birthday, which would not arrive until he was eighty-four years old.^[3]

Holidays and observances

• Bahá'í Faith - Day 4 of Ayyám-i-Há (Intercalary Days) (in leap years only) - days in the Bahá'í calendar devoted to service and gift giving.
• Discordianism - St. Tib's Day.
• February 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  

Notes

1. ^ Clarissa Bye, "Take the Leap Today, Girls," Sydney Morning Herald, February 29, 2004. Retrieved July 27, 2007.
2. ^ Article 121 of the Civil Code Part I General Principles of the Republic of China in effect in Taiwan.
3. ^ Not eighty-four, as the year 1900 would not be a leap year.

Ok, so there was a list of births, but it was boring as hell, so I cut it out along with the "Deaths" section. Seriously, who cares about dead people anyhow? Unless they come back as zombies, I'm pretty sure that they're not going to be causing any major trouble any time soon.

Moving right along, what is significant about today? Not much really. The average person will see about 15 to 20 of these days pass them by and will remember approximately 2 less than that. The one at the start is a definite no go as when you're 4 at the most, you just wont care and I figure that the one at the end will probably be clouded by Alzheimers or some other mentally crippling disease. I mean let's face it, most of the people on this planet already suffer from a massive case of stupidity, so I don't think that I'm making too much of a leap here.

There are two things that I do find mildly interesting about the 29th though (three if you count the Discordanisim holiday, but what do they matter?). Firstly is that in official terms, the norm seems to be that people born on the 29th have their birthday pushed to the 28th. Now I can sort of see why as it keeps their birthday in the right month and all that, but still it just doesn't quite sit right. I would prefer to celebrate on the 1st of March as that is technically closer to the actual anniversary of one's birth. Since I was born in August though, this is a moot point, so whatever.

The other thing I find curious is this tradition of women being "allowed" to propose to men on this day. What the hell? Sure this was all well and good to make a fuss over back in the archaic days when men had one set of rules and women another where matters of propriety and social acceptability were concerned, but come on, it's 2008 people! We have long since shed any pretence of social acceptability. Besides, I thought the rule was meant to be that men and women were equals now (except in areas of natural and irreconcilable biological difference) and this seems to set us all back a good 60 years or more. What the hell?

My conclusion after reviewing all my own evidence is this then: Today is special only because I've posted something up. Simple as that. I am a fair god and you are right to worship me and thank me for my beneficence. Letting you all stumble around in the darkness looking for a blog entry today is not something I would wish on anyone (except those that are deserving of my scorn) and so I have rescued you from a day of tedium and banality. Praise be to me for I have even provided the... "less wordy" among you with links to explain my glorious perspicacity!

-Salem
In another 4 years it will be Frejak or Kahn that saves you.

My g-mail is finally 1337!

'Nuff said really. My G-mail is just that good.

-Salem
Will "1337 5p34k" ever die? I sure hope so...

Wait, what month is it?

February you say? The end of it? Well damn! So it's been quite a while since I posted last, but that's ok. Nobody reads it anyhow so I haven't got anyone sending me hate mail because we haven't done anything in the last month. There's something oddly soothing about running a blog with absolutely no readers. We post what we want, when we want and nobody ever complains about it. In fact, when we do hear about it, it's only from the other authors and I can't think of a time when it hasn't been some form of praise. How can you really argue with that?

Anyhow, moving right along, we're once again coming up to another Equinox. I know that few people are overly concerned by this as you follow your more standard holidays, such as Easter or Kwanzaa (what the hell is Kwanzaa?) and that's cool. Around here, both Frejak and I prefer to celebrate something that is far more scientifically proven and far less commercial. Thankfully, our friends respect that much in the same way that we respect their holiday of choice. Actually, I'm eagerly awaiting the day that Kahn decides to start celebrating Kwanzaa. It may not be that far off. Joyous Zwanzaa to you if it happens Kahn! Incidentally, I know that Kwanzaa is at the end of the year, but I'm demonstrating varied traditions of celebration here so shush.

So yeah, Equinox. Since we're in the Southern hemisphere, it's the Autumnal Equinox for us (Vernal if you're in the less trendy Northern hemisphere). With any luck it will signal a change to a cooler temperature and maybe some more rain. While that wasn't a very technical explanation, here's a watered down version for the people outside of our hemisphere:

This is the Equinox that gets a holiday

This is the Chevy Equinox that I hope hits you for not indicating while
changing lanes you dumb-ass.

Did I mention that lately I've been spending a lot more time on the roads? Well I have been and I'm starting to wish I had a bullet for every fucker that doesn't know how to indicate. One of these days I'm going to get hit by one of these morons and they're going to blame me for it. I imagine this is how the conversation will go:
Non-Indicator: "Why don't you watch where you're going dick?!?"
Enraged Salem: "I was watching exactly where I was going when you suddenly and without warning, veered into me you psych ward reject!!!"
[Insert me punching the idiot in the face and saying "Surprise Cock-Face!" here]

Right, this is getting a little off track here. The point of all this was to basically post up something new before the end of the month and also let you know that Equinox will be on March 20th this year. I hope you all have a joyous time. Frejak and I will light an extra candle for all of you... except those fuckers that never indicate.

-Salem
I've started weight training at the gym in preparation for the non-indicators.

I am not the thief you're looking for...

Seriously, I'm not! I mean, I am a thief, but today, it's ok. Kinda like Robin Hood, I'm stealing from the rich (in this case Penny Arcade) to give to the poor (that would be myself and the limited number of people that visit this blog). What I'm stealing is a video that Tycho posted up and I think you'll like it. Take a look:



Wasn't that awesome? He has a good point about the 3D being far more immersive and for people like Frejak, this is exactly what we need! I would recommend taking a look at the guy's website if you're into your techno-fantasies. I say that not because his stuff is fictional, but because as much as I can see an almost endless string of applications for his work, I doubt we're lucky enough to live in a world where industries are willing to listen to independent ideas regarding their own equipment.

Damn you Nintendo! I know that it prints money, but you could be printing larger denominations!

Ahh well. Perhaps someday we'll see all the cool new tech being released straight away rather than getting held up for years by greedy companies that don't like letting the thousands of super-brains just do their thing and give us the kind of tech that we want instead of just having to put up with the simplest and most rigid applications that the companies let us have.

-Salem
Surely there's still hope...

Sling Shots

Now I know what you're thinking, you're thinking "God... here we go again, he's going to ramble on about a damn slingshot and some kind of Zombie Apocalypse." and normally you'd be right. I do love my Zombie Plans but on this occasion I have something else in mind. Coming up in the very near future we have Frejak's birthday and we will be heading out to one of Brisbane's premier night spots, the fabulous Sling Lounge. I've loved this place since I first turned up. Let me tell you the story of why.

Back in the day, the Lychee Lounge was pretty much my favourite place to go out to in Brissy. The reason was that while the location and atmosphere were great, the drinks were just off the charts. While most of the staff there were pretty good, when I first went, I went with a good friend of mine that had worked at the Lychee Lounge and as a consequence, all our drinks were made by the best guy in the joint, Dustin Davis. Davis is a whiz behind the bar and so every time I went back, he was the one that we had making our drinks. I never got to know Davis super well, but he's the kind of guy that is smart enough to know that I will rave about him to anyone that wants to listen so he treats me well. When he left the Lychee Lounge to start up his own place with 2 other accomplished colleagues, I was more than happy to follow, thus I ended up at Sling. The more I go back, the more I get to say hi and see what he's doing with the place and truthfully, I just love being able to say we know the guy, he's just awesome.

If you haven't been yet, you should and you don't have to take my word for it either as there are a few others that are just as happy to rave about the place. It's not hard to find and it's very easy to want to stay there. The food is great, the cocktail list is seemingly endless and the place has such an awesome quality to it that you will not want to leave. Some people like bar hopping, but me, I'll stay planted at Sling and soak it up. I'm looking forward to Frejak's birthday, should be a great time with some great people. I just hope they remember to get back to her soon so we know how many to book for!

-Salem
Best place for alcohol abuse ever!