#2009 german premiere

[jgroffdaily]

Spring Awakening catapulted stars Lea Michele, Jonathan Groff and Skylar Astin to fame when it hit Broadway in 2006 — and created an original musical that inspired a generation.

“I just learned that Dan [Radcliffe‘s Merrily We Roll Along] understudy, Coby [Getzug], came to see Spring Awakening when we were on Broadway when he was 16. Now we’re on Broadway together,” Groff, who made his Broadway debut in the show at age 21, exclusively told Us Weekly in June 2024. “I was just talking to him about the documentary. It’s incredible. Yeah, theater really saved me. Looking back, I didn’t realize it was saving me … I was so compartmentalized and so closeted that I didn’t realize at the time what a lifeline getting to sing and dance and emote and cry and be joyful at all of that was when I was that age.”

Spring Awakening was inspired by Frank Wedekind’s 1891 play of the same name. Nearly a century later, Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater came together to pen the music, book and lyrics. The show follows a group of 19th century German teenagers as they discover their sexuality. Michele and Groff, who became BFFs during the Broadway run, played leads Wendla Bergmann and Melchior Gabor, respectively.

Spring Awakening was eventually revived on Broadway in 2015 by Deaf West Theatre Company, integrating American Sign Language (ASL) into the choreography.

Nearly 15 years after Spring Awakening first debuted on the Great White Way, the original cast reunited for a special concert, which raised money for the Actor’s Fund. The one-night-only performance was filmed for HBO, and Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known premiered in May 2022. The cast performed at the Tonys one month later.

Scroll below to see what the original Spring Awakening cast members have been up to since their Broadway tenure:

Jonathan Groff

The Mindhunter alum played lead Melchior in the original production before going on to land roles on One Life to Live, Boss, Frozen, The Normal Heart, Glee, Looking and The Matrix Resurrections. He returned to Broadway in 2015 in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton: An American Musical, playing King George. The Pennsylvania native had brief roles in 2022’s And Just Like That and Life & Beth. He won his first Tony Award for Best Lead Actor in a Musical in June 2024 for Merrily We Roll Along.

Groff, who publicly came out in 2009, was previously linked to actors Gavin Creel and Zachary Quinto.

[diabolus1exmachina]

Wiesmann MF5 GT 

The MF5 GT was in the absolute top position. This model series made its debut in 2007 during the IAA at the Wiesmann dealer in Frankfurt. It took around one and a half years before series production began. As with the MF4, a bonded and riveted aluminium chassis lay beneath the body made of glass-fiber-reinforced plastic. For the smaller MF3, Wiesmann used a tube frame.Technically, the brothers Friedhelm and Martin Wiesmann continued to use BMW components for the MF5. Only the best was good enough for the flagship. The five-liter naturally aspirated V10 engine with 373 kW/507 hp and 520 Nm of torque was taken over from the M5 (E60/E61) and M6 (E63/E64) series. The automated SMG III transmission with seven gears, the ABS and a few other driver assistance systems also came from the M6. Steering components came from the smaller 3 Series with the internal model codes E46 and E90. All around, 19-inch wheels with 265/35 ZR 19 tires at the front and 325/30 ZR 19 tires at the rear were used as standard. When BMW retired the E60, E61, E63 and E64 series and thus also discontinued production of the V10, Wiesmann switched in parallel to the V8 biturbo engine from the X5 M. This produced 408 kW/555 hp from 4.4 liters of displacement, which was transmitted to the rear wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission.Initially, the Wiesmann MF5 GT was only available as a Coupé. Wider fenders, a modified front spoiler lip and a fixed rear wing clearly distinguished the car from the less powerful MF4 GT. Incidentally, the first 30 production cars of the MF5 GT had chassis numbers of its smaller brother. It wasn’t until number 031 that a separate number range began. The last MF5 GT with the V10 engine was numbered 056, and the V8 biturbo engine was subsequently fitted in just 22 cars. In September 2009, the Roadster version finally made its debut at the IAA in Frankfurt. For this car, Wiesmann used an electrically extendable rear spoiler for the first time, which generated more downforce at higher speeds. Since it was already foreseeable at the time of the premiere that the V10 engine wouldn’t be available for much longer, Wiesmann limited the MF5 Roadster to 55 units. However, due to the long production times and the fact that new EU registrations were no longer possible from 2011, only 43 were produced, followed by 63 cars with V8.

Author's note: recently German firm Wiesmann decided that its next car will be an EV, which led to this prototype: Project Thunderball. That won't be the real name, but this is mostly the real car, with 671 horsepower and 811 pound-feet of torque. Assuming it reaches production anytime soon, it'll be the first EV roadster since the original Lotus-based Tesla. Stay tuned! 

[margridarnauds]

Despite considering myself to be rather knowleadgeable about Marie Antoinette and her various endeavours and portrayals in media, I have to admit that i never heard of the Musical. Would you enlighten me about it and maybe advise where to watch it? 😁😁😁

Of course!

So, Marie Antoinette das Musical.

Based on a book by Shusaku Endom, premiered in Japan in 2006, as a collaboration between Michael Kunze and Szilvester Levay, known for Elisabeth das Musical, Mozart das Musical, and Rebecca das Musical, and went on to premiere in Germany in 2009. Both productions didn't do particularly well, even though they did have cast albums released. (I...still have to translate the German libretto, if only for the sake of keeping up my German skills.) There were some major structural flaws -- Marie Antoinette was too bitchy (throwing an actual temper tantrum, like a child, so that Louis would dismiss Necker; tossing champagne at a poor woman's head because she interrupted her ball and Marie thought it would be funny), her sympathetic qualities were either downplayed or erased in favor of her love affair with Fersen, which was reduced to "Good Man In Love With Bitchy Woman Who Knows She Isn't Good Enough For Him, But Don't Worry, He Loves Her Anyway", but the justifiable reasons for the Revolution were reduced to "Bitter poor people want Revenge and Go Against God", it had a bloated plot with too many characters, etc. etc. etc. It was, and I'm saying this as someone who ADORES messy musicals, one of the single biggest disasters I've ever forced myself to sit through, in the sense that it wasn't even particularly *entertaining.*

But, in 2014, an international crew got together to do the Korean production, and they essentially rewrote the whole thing. Not a shallow rewrite either, they TOTALLY REWROTE IT FROM THE GROUND UP. Songs were cut and added as needed, sometimes being given to different characters or put in different scenes, superfluous characters were removed, the plot was tightened to focus on the characters involved, Marie was rewritten into a flawed, but understandable character, not a sexist caricature. This was the version of the plot that would premiere in Hungary in 2016 and back to Japan in 2018 and 2021, becoming an international success.

The musical follows two women -- Marie Antoinette and Margrid Arnaud, two women with the same initials who lead very different lives. While Marie lives a life of oblivious privilege, Margrid lives on the streets. She was educated in a convent as a child, as the result of a mysterious benefactor (her mother having committed suicide) but was tossed out on the streets when the money ran out, and she's had to live by her wits since then. The two of them meet when Margrid interrupts a ball being held at Palais Royal to celebrate Marie's return to society. Margrid calls for the aristocrats to pay attention to the plight of the poor, who are starving, but all Marie can do is offer her a glass of champagne, which Margrid, furious at the lack of understanding, tosses in her face, swearing revenge. She joins up with the Duc d'Orléans, who is running a smear campaign in order to convince the public that he should be the rightful king, and things go downhill from there...

Some of the strongest points in the musical's favor:

Strong female characters. A term that's often thrown around casually, but, honestly, I love the musical for how it deals with the rivalry between Margrid and Marie, because neither one is fully wrong or fully right. We understand why both of them make the decisions they do and how it leads them to where they are by the end, and they go through an entire arc together. Margrid in particular is one of my characters of all time for being a woman who is brilliant, an absolute gremlin, strikingly vulnerable, and evasive. She's flawed, she's aggressive, vindictive, and spiteful, but we're also allowed to see WHY she's that way and how thoroughly fucked up she is by what's happened to her in the past. She is someone who truly doesn't believe that she's capable of being loved or of loving someone else -- platonically or romantically, because every experience she's had of love ended in betrayal, even when she desperately wants it. Meanwhile, Marie is both trapped in a life of fame and fortune while also believing, firmly, that that is her god-given right. She never believes that her position is anything other than her right by God, even when it involves spilling French military secrets to the other European powers when the Revolution goes a little crazy. She adores her family, she adores her husband, but she's also in love with Fersen (which...I don't like historical Fersen, but musical!Fersen, I tolerate.) You feel sympathetic for her by the end, but she doesn't demand sympathy.

Great villain. I love the Duc d'Orléans in this musical so much. Louis Philippe Joseph was a complicated man historically, and, depending on the actor, he's a complicated man in the musical. He's been simplified, but you can still SEE at times that he isn't a monster -- he genuinely ENJOYS working with Margrid, he's a good boss, he isn't necessarily WRONG about certain things, even when he's selfish in the way he goes about it (there's a great moment in the 2018 Japanese production where he sees Marie reject a peace offering from Cardinal de Rohan, and you can just SEE him dying inside, like "oh, God, she actually DID that." Margrid's eventual break with him isn't even that he betrayed HER or that HE changed his goals...she did. Which makes for a much more interesting dynamic than "evil man manipulates woman and then betrays her."

There's also a masquerade scene where they go undercover together. And yes, I went batshit over this and have still not recovered. (Please note that they are being used to contrast Fersen/Marie here, to make the ship bait worse.)

They're just. Like this. With one another. In one of the Korean productions, you can clearly hear her call him "Philippe" which murdered me.

I don't have any gifs of this scene without text on it, but the look on both of their faces by the end is...

Anyway, semi-canonical (depending on the production/actors) villainfucking angst, who is doing it like them?

The costumes are great (with the exception of the Hungarian, sorry Hungary.)

(The same dress from the same scene in both Japan and Korea)

It is bizarrely accurate in some ridiculously minute ways, like the Toho production actually DOING A RECREATION OF THE HISTORICAL MARIE'S BED.

Historically accurate pamphlet, shown in a projection while Orléans is singing about his strategy to turn the people against her. I legitimately had to pause the screen the first time I saw it because I couldn't believe my eyes. (Yes, I now pause it on each stream.)

Like, don't get me wrong, it still gets a LOT wrong, or changes details around to make 9 years of someone's life fit into a two hour musical, but both the Korean and the Japanese productions DO care about details in ways that higher budget films and TV series often don't.

And, of course, some killer songs. (Orléans' villain song, Marie's song, Act 1 finale -- all from the Korean, since they are slightly better at putting songs out, with the Japanese trailer.)

The Korean and Japanese bootleg environments tend to be...stricter than Broadway -- there have been proshots released for both at various times (the Toho production is actually available to buy if you have a Japanese proxy who can send it to you), to the point where I can't *say* if I have access to the Korean, but I have bought both DVDs of the two Japanese casts and have been known to stream it. If you're interested, I'm always willing to schedule something, especially since it's been ages since I've done anything like it.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds will either unleash a deluge of questions about morals and ethics (probably intentionally) or allow you to revel in trashy revenge fantasies while sitting through a story that’s full of finely-written dialogue, unpredictable turns and excellent performances. I strongly suspect the film isn't supposed to be scrutinized, that its only purpose is to be a “leave your brain at the door and enjoy the carnage” kind of film but the skill involved in its creation compels you to look deeper. There are many great scenes and some spectacular performances within the picture, which makes it a surprise that ultimately, the final product is less than the sum of its parts.

In 1944, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) assembles a paramilitary unit designed to spread terror among Nazi troops. The Basterds are to murder, disfigure and torture any enemy soldiers they find but must also let some live to grow their reputation. A year later, the Basterds are recruited to infiltrate a film premiere in Nazi-occupied France where several high-ranking German officers will be attending. The theater is owned by Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), a Jewish woman living in Paris under a fake name. She seeks revenge against the same Nazis the Basterds are targeting, particularly SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz).

Inglourious Basterds is two movies that briefly converge but are otherwise independent of each other. The problem is that these two stories are nearly opposites tonally. The Basterds’ story is a violent, comedic cartoon. Shosanna’s story contains real drama. Both are revenge fantasies but of a completely different kind.

It’s hard to tell what message we’re supposed to draw from the film. An opening speech by Raine reminds us that despite the way they act and look, every German soldier is not a person. They are simply pieces of Hitler’s grand machine. The more violent, and brutal their death the better. We never see concentration camps. They are never even mentioned. The Third Reich’s armies are shown killing Jews but only via machine guns. The murders they commit are no more brutal than those committed by the Basterds but we’re not supposed to see the Jewish-American soldiers as bad - even though they torture and mutilate people who beg for their lives - because the people they are killing are “not people”. It’s difficult to wrap your head around the idea because the performances are so good, and the violence so impactful.

This is the kind of film that could’ve used a couple of baddies with eyepatches and mechanical legs rather than the excellent lookalikes of Sylvester Groth (Joseph Goebbels), Adolf Hitler (Martin Wuttke) and Emil Jannings (Hilmar Eichhorn). The message seems to be that compassion and mercy have no place in the world and that they’re likely to get you killed. Should the excuse of “I was just following orders” exempt you from punishment? Tarantino says “Maybe - unless you're a Nazi". At the very least, you must admire him for committing fully to his message.

Whether or not you're turned off by the story’s brutality, there’s no denying what Inglourious Basterds does well. There are so many good scenes the package is worth seeing even if it will offend and appall you. Tarantino holds the tension and then slowly stretches it until you can practically smell the perspiration dominating the room. The dialogue is so good you can’t wait to hear what’s next and you wouldn’t miss a word for all the stolen Nazi gold in the world. The plot’s completely unpredictable and the performances are incredible. Christoph Waltz, in particular, blows you away. You should hate his character. He’s a terrible human being but he’s so smooth the atrocities he commits seem to evaporate from your memory the second he opens his mouth.

Inglourious Basterds is not a classy story but it’s made with such expertise that the mud it’s wading through looks like it came from the spa. It’s deeply knowledgeable about film history and if you are as well, you should see it. Every glimpse we get of Stolz der Nation (Nation's Pride) is perfect to a tee. Would it have been a better film if it had been separated into two? Unfortunately, I believe so. With the conclusion the way it is, the more interesting story - that of Shoshanna - is made redundant, even pointless by the actions of the Basterds. The upside is that you have no clue where it's headed until you get there.

Although I think Inglourious Basterds is a one-and-done for me, I'd be curious to see how a second viewing might go. It really is one of those movies that forces you to react strongly toward it. (May 1, 2020)

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 6.18 (after 1940)

1940 – Appeal of 18 June by Charles de Gaulle. 1940 – The "Finest Hour" speech is delivered by Winston Churchill. 1945 – William Joyce ("Lord Haw-Haw") is charged with treason for his pro-German propaganda broadcasting during World War II. 1946 – Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, a Socialist, calls for a Direct Action Day against the Portuguese in Goa. 1948 – Columbia Records introduces the long-playing record album in a public demonstration at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. 1948 – Britain, France and the United States announce that on June 21, the Deutsche Mark will be introduced in western Germany and West Berlin. Over the next six days, Communists increasingly restrict access to Berlin. 1953 – The Egyptian revolution of 1952 ends with the overthrow of the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the declaration of the Republic of Egypt. 1953 – A United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns near Tachikawa, Japan, killing 129. 1954 – Carlos Castillo Armas leads an invasion force across the Guatemalan border, setting in motion the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état. 1958 – Benjamin Britten's one-act opera Noye's Fludde premiered at the Aldeburgh Festival. 1965 – Vietnam War: The United States Air Force uses B-52 bombers to attack guerrilla fighters in South Vietnam. 1972 – Staines air disaster: One hundred eighteen people are killed when a BEA H.S. Trident crashes minutes after takeoff from London's Heathrow Airport.[8] 1979 – SALT II is signed by the United States and the Soviet Union. 1981 – The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, the first operational aircraft initially designed around stealth technology, makes its first flight. 1982 – Italian banker Roberto Calvi's body is discovered hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge in London, England. 1983 – Space Shuttle program: STS-7, Astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space. 1983 – Mona Mahmudnizhad, together with nine other women of the Baháʼí Faith, is sentenced to death and hanged in Shiraz, Iran over her religious beliefs. 1984 – A major clash between about 5,000 police and a similar number of miners takes place at Orgreave, South Yorkshire, during the 1984–85 UK miners' strike. 1994 – The Troubles: Members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) attack a crowded pub with assault rifles in Loughinisland, Northern Ireland. Six Catholic civilians are killed and five wounded. It was crowded with people watching the 1994 FIFA World Cup. 1998 – Propair Flight 420 crashes near Montréal–Mirabel International Airport in Quebec, Canada, killing 11. 2006 – The first Kazakh space satellite, KazSat-1 is launched. 2007 – The Charleston Sofa Super Store fire happened in Charleston, South Carolina, killing nine firefighters. 2009 – The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a NASA robotic spacecraft is launched. 2018 – An earthquake of magnitude 6.1 strikes northern Osaka. 2023 – Titan, a submersible operated by OceanGate Expeditions, imploded while attempting to view the wreck of the Titanic, killing all five people on board including the co-founder and CEO of the company, Stockton Rush in the North Atlantic Ocean.

[gedeonburkhard]

FROM GEDEON

Award-winning actor Gedeon Burkhard stars opposite Brad Pitt in the much anticipated Quentin Tarantino film Inglourious Basterds. Burkhard plays American Jew Sgt. Wilhelm Wicki who serves as a translator for Pitt’s character. Some of his other film credits include: The Last Train (directed by Joseph Vilsmaier), Melodies of Spring (directed by Martin Walz), Golden Times (directed by Peter Thorwart) and Making Up (directed by Katja V. Garnier).

Burkhard is the recipient of the Best Actor Bavarian Award for his work in Acting It Out and also received a Romy for Best Actor for the acclaimed his television series Detective Rex, which went on to sell to over 140 foreign territories. In addition, he also helmed a successful television series Alarm for Cobra 11 that aired in 120 countries.

Burkhard’s success in film and television has catapulted him onto the main stage in one of the most highly anticipated movie releases of 2009, Inglourious Basterds. IFQ caught up with Burkhard on the eve of the film’s premiere at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

IFQ: You play opposite Brad Pitt in the much anticipated Quentin Tarantino film Inglourious Basterds. Without revealing too much about the film, can you tell me about your character Sgt. Wilhelm Wicki?

Gedeon Burkhard: He’s a Basterd! One of 8 Jewish American, Nazi killing predator’s, in a world gone awry. Especially for Jews! As far as his history goes, he was born in Austria, immigrated to America in the early 1920’s, became American and was one of the first in line to go fight when the US entered the war. Aside from killing and mutilating, he also translates for Brad Pitt’s character, Lt. Aldo Raine.

IFQ: You are an award-winning star of consecutive top-rated television dramas in Germany and over 120 territories worldwide, as well as starring in many films in German-speaking territories. How did you cross over and score a supporting role in Tarantino’s film?

GB: Ten years ago in Vienna, I come home from a night shoot and find one of the greatest Directors of our time, fast asleep, on my couch. As it turns out, my girlfriend at the time, Emma Hickox, and Q are old friends. Actually, one of the characters in Inglourious Basterds is named after her late father and director Douglas Hickox. One year later in L.A., Quentin tells me about this character he has me in mind for and then, very generously, gives me eight years to prepare for the audition.

IFQ: How did you prepare for this role? Were you previously familiar with the old school WWII epic films?

GB: When I was 11, working on a miniseries dealing with the rise and downfall of the Third Reich, I was confronted with the subject matter for the first time. Since then I have played a Jewish prisoner picked from a concentration camp to act in Jud Süss (Anti-Semitic propaganda film) and a Jewish boxer fighting for his family’s survival on the way to Auschwitz. So since a lot of research was already in place, I mainly concentrated on playing around with knives, handling guns, slitting throats, scalping and so forth. As far as WW II epics go, any existing gaps where closed by Q’s weekly screenings during preparation.

IFQ: What was your initial reaction when you first read the script? While shooting, did Tarantino make everyone stick to the script or was there any room to improvise?

GB: My initial reaction was, God I can’t wait to see this! And, who do I have to kill to be in it?! I’m not quite sure about the order. Who, in his right mind, would want to change a Quentin Tarantino script? You’re just happy to be one of the lucky f***’s chewing his dialogue. But Quentin is the easiest going Genius I ever met and he is always open for someone bringing something to the table.

IFQ: How was the experience working with Tarantino himself? What’s his working process like on set?

GB: A film set is always the realm of organized chaos and to me, Quentin is King Arthur and Merlin wrapped into one! So being one of his chosen Knights, I naturally look to him for direction and guidance, which he readily gives. But Quentin also likes to let you run free in his magic castle; his only demands are devotion to the cause, passion and concentration.

IFQ: What was it like working alongside such a diverse cast: Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Samuel Jackson, Maggie Cheung, Julie Dreyfus and Diane Kruger? What was your rapport like with them on the set?

GB: I never had the pleasure of meeting Maggie or Samuel. Quoting Quentin, Brad’s not a star; he’s a planet! And still he manages to be nothing but inspirational and a pleasure to be around. He is a wonderful colleague whose huge talent just drags you along, making you be the best you can be. Eli is a great buddy, but on set he was also our boss, Sgt. Donnie Donowitz! So if you mishandled your weapon, on or off camera, he chewed your ass out! Julie and Diane are both gorgeous, inside and out! I didn't have the honor to work with Julie but Diane, who I worked next to for weeks, was an endless fountain of entertainment and laughs.

IFQ: How do you think the German population in general will react to the film? Will they be able to separate history’s past and appreciate it as an entertaining film on its own merit?

GB: Quentin has managed to deal with this difficult subject matter in a way that gives everybody in his right mind the possibility to access and partake in the story and the ones that don’t, can as far as I’m concerned go F*** themselves!

IFQ: You have worked on both German-speaking and American films. Can you compare and contrast working on German-speaking films/TV and the USA/Germany co-production film Inglourious Basterds?

GB: Crew size and Production value. Aside from that, everybody is trying to do the same thing: make a good movie!

IFQ: Can you tell me how your educational background has allowed you to play both American and German speaking characters?

GB: Being an impossible child and always getting kicked out of schools was, not at the time but in retrospect, a good thing. It led to me being educated, first in England and then in America, giving me the gift of two languages and two cultures.

IFQ: Since Inglourious Basterds will premiere at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, will we see you there?

GB: Since I have never been to the Cannes Film Festival, you can bet your ass you’re going to see me there this year!

IFQ: Any upcoming projects?

GB: I just finished shooting a film called Mazel. It‘s a Jewish take on My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

[brookston]

Holidays 6.5

Holidays

Apple II Day

Arbor Day (New Zealand)

Atlantis Day

Barricade Day

Blackberry Prophecy Day (If it rains today, it means the blackberries will be small and full of seeds)

Breonna Taylor Day

Elderberry Day (French Republic)

Family Yahtzee Day

Father's Day (Denmark)

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Day

Festival of Popular Delusions

Flag Day (Turkey)

Global Jewish Unity Day

Grundlovsdag (Constitution Day; Denmark, Faroe Islands)

HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day

Hot Air Balloon Day

Indian Arrival Day (Suriname)

International Day for the Fight Against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing

Khordad Movement Day (Iran)

The King’s Birthday (New Zealand, Niue)

Liberation Day (Seychelles)

National Attitude Day

National Cancer Survivors Day

National Coworking Day (UK)

National Janet Day

National Jenny Day

National Joyce Day

National Lincoln Loud Day

National Report Stark Violations Day

National Shut Up Day

National Unity Day (Hungary)

National Women Chiropractors Day

One Plastic Free Day

Pansexual Day

President’s Day (Equatorial Guinea)

Reclamation Day (Azerbaijan)

605 Day

Walt Powell Memorial Day

Wiltshire Day (UK)

World Campaign for the Biosphere Day

World Day Against Speciesism

World Environment Day (UN)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Gingerbread Day

National Gingerbread Cookie Day

National Ketchup Day

National Love Island Day (UK) [1st Monday]

National Veggie Burger Day

Sausage Roll Day

1st Monday in June

Crop Over begins (Barbados) [1st Monday Until 1st Monday in August]

Jefferson Davis Day [1st Monday] (Alabama)

Meitheamh begins (Ireland) [1st Monday]

National Thank God It’s Monday Day [1st Monday; also 1st Monday in January]

Western Australia Day [1st Monday]

World Orthoptic Day [1st Monday]

Independence Days

Constitution Day (Denmark)

Feast Days

André Lhote (Artology)

The Bicycle and Helmet (Muppetism)

Boniface (Roman Catholic Church; Saint) [brewers, German brewers, innkeepers] *

St. Boniface (Positivist; Saint)

Dorotheus the Theban (Christian; Saint)

Dorotheus of Tyre (Christian; Saint)

Doughnut Day (Pastafarian)

Festival for Hercules Custos (Ancient Rome)

Genesius, Count of Clermont (Christian; Saint)

Illidius, Bishop of Auvergne (Christian; Saint)

Media Ver V (Pagan)

Meinwerk (Christian; Blessed)

Nones of June (Ancient Rome)

Whit Monday [50 days after Orthodox Easter] (Orthodox Christian) a.k.a. ... 

Doua Zi de Rusalii (România)

Holy Spirit Monday

Kataklysmos (Cyprus)

Monday of the Holy Spirit

Pentecost Monday

Valeria (Christian; Saint)

Wild Man Fletcher Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Lucky Day (Philippines) [33 of 71]

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [31 of 57]

Premieres

Arctic Antics (Disney Cartoon; 1930)

Away We Go (Film; 2009)

Be-Bop-a-Lula, by Gene Vincent (Song; 1956)

The Comeback (TV Series; 2005)

Come Blow Your Horn (Film; 1963)

For the Birds (Pixar Cartoon; 2000)

The Hangover (Film; 2009)

Harry and the Hendersons (Film; 1987)

Little Boy Boo (WB LT Cartoon; 1954)

Lovestoned, by Justin Timberlake (Song; 2007)

Lush Life, by Zara Larsson (Song; 2015)

Memory Almost Full, by Paul McCartney (Album; 2007)

Mulan (Animated Disney Film; 1998)

Patriot Games (Film; 1992)

Peter Grimes, by Benjamin Britten (Opera; 1945)

Pleading Guilty, by Scott Turow (Novel; 1993)

Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too (Black Mirror TV Episode; 2019)

Rififi (Film; 1956)

Rock of Ages (Film; 2012)

The Sea Wolves (Film; 1981)

Sixkill, by Robert B. Parker (Novel; 2011)

Spy (Film; 2015)

The Truman Show (film; 1998)

Uncle Tom’s Bungalow (WB MM Cartoon; 1937)

Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Novel; 1852)

The Untouchables (Film; 1987)

What's New Pussycat?, by Tom Jones (Song; 1965)

Yankee Doodle Dandy (Film; 1942)

You’ve Got a Friend, by James Taylor (Song; 1971)

Today’s Name Days

Erika, Winfried (Austria)

Bonifacije, Bono, Darinka, Valerija (Croatia)

Dobroslav (Czech Republic)

Bonifacius (Denmark)

Vilimo, Viljar, Viljer, Viljo, Vilju (Estonia)

Sulevi (Finland)

Igor (France)

Bonifatius, Erika, Winifried (Germany)

Apollon, Dorotheos, Kinthia, Nikandros, Ploutarhos, Selene (Greece)

Fatime (Hungary)

Bonifacio, Ferdinando, Igor, Irene (Italy)

Igors, Ingvars, Margods, Margots (Latvia)

Kantautas, Kantvydė, Marcė (Lithuania)

Torben, Torbjørg, Torbjørn (Norway)

Bończa, Bonifacy, Dobrociech, Dobromir, Dobrymir, Nikanor, Waleria, Walter (Poland)

Dorotei (România)

Laura (Slovakia)

Bonifacio (Spain)

Bo (Sweden)

Dora, Dorothea, Dorothy, Ihor (Ukraine)

Boniface, Sancho, Santino, Santos (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 156 of 2024; 209 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 23 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Huath (Hawthorn) [Day 22 of 28]

Chinese: Month 4 (Ding-Si), Day 18 (Jia-Wu)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 16 Sivan 5783

Islamic: 16 Dhu al-Qada 1444

J Cal: 6 Sol; Sixday [6 of 30]

Julian: 23 May 2023

Moon: 97%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 16 St. Paul (6th Month) [St. Boniface]

Runic Half Month: Odal (Home, Possession) [Day 11 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 77 of 90)

Zodiac: Gemini (Day 15 of 32)

[senso1954]

If you’re still doing recs-fav movies ft Black characters (any time period/part of diaspora) 🙏🏾

i watch proportionally very little... so take this one with a grain of "it's limited" too

soleil ô (1970), beautiful/enraging classic about french-mauritian colonial relations

six degrees of seperation (1993), based on a play which is based on a true story, gay will smith pretends to be sidney poitier's son and infiltrates a rich family's life a bit (suffers a bit under having him go away for long stretches of time)

kwaku ananse (2013) akosua adoma owusu has made 15 really different shorts, this one i thought was the most interesting

cette maison (2022), very dreamy, experimental feature film about the unsolved death of the teenage cousin of the director's friend

she don't fade (1991), my favourite of cheryl dunye's shorts... obviously the watermelon woman is one of the best films ever made and a favourite but i didn't want to list only the most famous classics

the edge of the city (1957) 50s hollywood movie but the better kind. sidney poitier and john cassavettes look at each other with loving wet eyes, ruby dee is achingly charming as always

small axe: lovers rock (2020) oh the best movie ever, incredible incredible ecstatic west london party evening (there is a scene of attempted sexual assault)

mississipi masala (1991) romance!

stadt der verlorenen seelen (1983), i had this on the german films rec list as well but i'll reiterate: it's good

okay i am running out of time for detailed descriptions. here are some more:

pariah (2011), looking for langston (1989), marlon riggs' shorts particularly affirmations, ngozi onwurah's 90s shorts (the body beautiful, white men are cracking up,...), leadbelly (1976), black dynamite (2009), touki bouki (1973), deep cover (1992), daughters of the dust (1991), belly (1998), bodies bodies bodies (lol 2022), j'ai pas sommeil (1994), and as baldwinfan of course i love if beale street could talk (went to the german premiere and looked at barry jenkins' shiny head)

[uniquejellyfishqueen]

Miles teller

2/20/1987

2/20:

National handcuff day (Sabrina?)

National whistleblower reward day

World day for social justice

National Day of Solidarity With Muslim, Arab, and South Asian Immigrants

1792 – The Postal Service Act, establishing the US Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington

1811 - Austria declares bankruptcy

1872 - The toothpick was patented

1872 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens In New York City

1873 – The University of California opens its first medical school in San Francisco, California

1895 - Congress authorizes a US mint at Denver, Colorodo

1931 – The Congress of the United States approves the construction of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge by the State of California.

1933 – Adolf Hitler secretly meets with German industrialists to arrange for financing of the Nazi Party's upcoming election campaign.

1935 – Caroline Mikkelsen becomes the first woman to set foot in Antarctica.

1942 – Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.

1944 - Batman & Robin comic strip premieres in newspapers

Also born on 2/20:

1954 – Patty Hearst, American socialite

1963 – Charles Barkley, American basketball player

1966 – Cindy Crawford, American model

1967 – Kurt Cobain, American musician (Nirvana) (d. 1994)

1988 – Rihanna, Barbadian singer

In music:

1960 - Jimi Hendrix, rock and roll guitarist, plays his first show

1971 - The soundtrack to Jesus Christ Superstar hit #1 on the US album chart

1978- Abba's Take a Chance on Me hit #1 on the UK singles chart (video below)

1988 - Kylie Minogue's I Should Be So Lucky hits #1 on the UK singles chart

1991 - Bob Dylan was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the 33rd annual Grammy' Awards

2009 - The White Stripes play the final episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien in New York City.

Born in: Downingtown, Pennsylvania (33 miles from Philadelphia) it was incorporated on 5/12/1859. At age 12 his family moved to Citrus County, FL which was founded on 6/2/1887

Downingtown, PA:

The 1958 movie The Blob was filmed in and around Downingtown. The diner featured in the movie, then called the "Downingtown Diner", was sold and transported to another state and has been replaced with a similar 1950s style diner. Continuing to be advertised as the "home of the Blob," it has changed ownership numerous times over the years but is still open as of 2023.

The global pretzel shop chain, Auntie Anne's, was founded in a stall in Downingtown's farmer's market in 1988. The chain is now a global company with 1,000 stores and $375 million in annual sales.[12]

The widely-distributed craft brewer Victory Brewing Company is located and headquartered in Downingtown. It was founded in a vacated Pepperidge Farm factory on Acorn Lane in 1996.

—————————

In 2007 he was a passenger in a car that lost control at 80 mph and flipped 8 times.

Miles made his acting debut in Rabbit Hole which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9/13/2010 and was released to the US on 12/17/2010 -Nicole Kidman picked him for this role. She is married to Keith Urban, who has a track with TS: Fearless TV track 24 “That’s When” ft Keith Urban. And it has not been played on the Eras Tour.

He starred in Whiplash which focuses on an ambitious music student and an abusive instructor at a fictional Shaffer Conservatory in NYC.

This movie premiered at Sundance on 1/16/2014

And was released to the US on 10/10/2014

****in the lover house during the music video for Lover, when she is in the Green room there is also a drum set that she goes and plays.

He was in Divergent and his characters name was Peter Hayes.

If you haven’t seen this movie or read the book… it’s about people being divided into factions based off of their human virtues… the one character couldn’t look in a mirror…and she was Divergent which means that she didn’t fit into any of the factions. the FMC love interest name was “Four”

Also Zoe Kravitz was a star in this movie and was recently seen out and about with TS

The production company was Summit Entertainment & Red Wagon (like the time TS and Miranda Lambert sang “Little Red Wagon” on 10/21/2015?)

LA premiere was on 3/18/2014

And released to the US on 3/21/2014…. 3..2..1? The switfie-verse is already spiraling about the possibility of that day being relevant. *LA, Summit, 321, Peter… thats 4 clues in 1.

The Red Tour: 3/18/2014 was N1/2 in St. Louis (LGAD?) her surprise song was “Should’ve Said No”

11/15/2021 the music video for “I Bet You Think About Me” was released TS and Blake Lively wrote the treatment for the video, and the latter directed it in her directorial debut. The video documents a wedding, with the wedding couple played by the actor Miles Teller and his wife Keleigh Sperry, who had been a friend of Swift's for years. Swift plays an ex-girlfriend who intrudes upon the wedding. Aaron Dessner has a cameo as a member of the wedding band, while Swift's brother Austin is credited as a producer for the music video. Stapleton does not appear in the video

**this song has only been played 1x on the ET 4/30/2023 N3/3 Atlanta show #16.

AG: Midnights (17) High Infidelity

Reputation (8) Gorgeous

AP: Red(26) IBYTAM

1989 (10) HYGTG

****the 1st letter from each song title backwards is HGIH….HIGH? “The moon is high like your friends were the night we first met?”

On 10/1/2022 Miles Teller was the Host of SNL and the performer was Kendrick Lamar. -> who is also on the Bad Blood remix. And announced that TS is going to be on his upcoming album.

[cleoenfaserum]

REBLOG: from dailyworldcinema film THE BLUE ANGEL (1930) (1218)

Whatever can be said about this film, right off the bat, it is a CLASSIC FILM and a historical representation of the moment in film.

The Blue Angel (German: Der blaue Engel) is a 1930 German musical comedy-drama film directed by Josef von Sternberg, based on Heinrich Mann's 1905 novel Professor Unrat (Professor Filth) and set in an unspecified northern German port city.

dailyworldcinema Jun 30 Marlene Dietrich in The Blue Angel (1930) Dir. Josef von Sternberg

The Blue Angel presents the tragic transformation of a respectable professor into a cabaret clown and his descent into madness.

The Blue Angel - Wikipedia

The Blue Angel (1930) - IMDb 7'7

The English version which is a little hard on the ears and sometimes difficult to understand, however some allowances can be made for a the classic.

LINK https://ok.ru/video/1205418723842

The film was shot simultaneously in German- and English-language versions. Though the English version was once considered a lost film, a print was discovered in a German film archive, restored and screened at San Francisco's Berlin and Beyond film festival on January 19, 2009. The German version is considered to be "obviously superior"; it is longer and not marred by actors struggling with English pronunciation.

NOTES

The film was the first feature-length German sound film and brought Dietrich international fame. It also introduced her signature song, Friedrich Hollaender and Robert Liebmann's "Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It)". The film is considered a classic of German cinema.

I have to admit, I am fascinated by REMAKES.

Remakes, adaptations and parodies 1959 The Blue Angel, director Edward Dmytryk's remake with Curd Jürgens.

link https://ok.ru/video/1843272485445

1966 Pousse-Cafe, a 1966 Broadway musical version with music by Duke Ellington. It was unsuccessful and closed after three performances.

Pinjra (1972), director V. Shantaram's highly successful Marathi/Hindi adaptation with Sandhya and Shreeram Lagoo.

1988 Lola, director Rainer Werner Fassbinder's loose adaptation of the film and its source novel.

1991 The Royal Shakespeare Company produced a stage adaptation, written by Pam Gems and directed by Trevor Nunn, that toured the UK from 1991 to 1992.

1988 In 1998, the Gems adaptation was translated to Japanese. With added songs composed by accordionist Yasuhiro Kobayashi, the Japanese version was staged as a musical starring Kenji Sawada at the Bunkamura in Tokyo.

2001 A stage adaptation by Romanian playwright Răzvan Mazilu premiered in 2001 at the Odeon Theatre in Bucharest, starring Florin Zamfirescu as the professor and Maia Morgenstern as Lola Lola.

2010 In April 2010, Playbill announced that David Thompson was writing the book for a musical adaptation of The Blue Angel, with Stew and Heidi Rodewald providing the score and Scott Ellis directing.

VARIOS: Lola Lola's nightclub act has been parodied on film by Danny Kaye as Fraulein Lilli in On the Double (1961) and by Helmut Berger in Luchino Visconti's The Damned (1969).

REBLOG: from dailyworldcinema film THE BLUE ANGEL (1930)

[seoulworldupdate]

Manchester City's Golden Era Faces Crucial Hearing in Financial Misconduct Case

Manchester City, recent titans of English football, now confront a critical challenge as they prepare to defend themselves against serious allegations of financial misconduct. A landmark hearing is set to begin on Monday, marking a pivotal moment in the saga that could impact the club's celebrated achievements.

After six years of investigation and 19 months since 115 charges were filed against the Premier League champions, an independent panel will now delve into the case, which has been described as British sport’s “trial of the century.” The hearing is expected to span at least two months, with a final verdict anticipated well into 2025.

Here’s what’s at stake for Manchester City and English football at large.

The Allegations: Since Sheikh Mansour's takeover in 2008, Manchester City has undergone a dramatic transformation, rising to dominance in the Premier League and clinching their first Champions League title in 2023. However, this ascent is now under scrutiny.

City faces accusations of financial rule violations, with 80 charges related to breaches between 2009 and 2018, and another 35 for allegedly obstructing the Premier League’s investigation. These allegations stem from leaked documents published by German outlet Der Spiegel in 2018, which purportedly reveal inflated sponsorship revenues from Abu Dhabi-based companies and undisclosed payments to former manager Roberto Mancini.

As the hearing unfolds, the outcome could have profound implications not only for Manchester City but for the broader landscape of English football.

[lichbongdacom1]

LỊCH THI ĐẤU GERMAN BUNDESLIGA HÔM NAY Theo bảng hệ số xếp hạng của UEFA, La Liga luôn là giải đấu hàng đầu ở châu Âu trong bảy năm từ 2013 đến 2019 (được tính bằng số liệu tích lũy từ năm mùa giải trước đó) và đã dẫn đầu châu Âu 22 trong số 60 năm được xếp hạng tính đến năm 2019, nhiều hơn bất kỳ quốc gia nào khác. Nó cũng đã sản sinh ra câu lạc bộ được xếp hạng hàng đầu châu lục nhiều lần (22) hơn bất kỳ giải đấu nào khác trong thời kỳ đó, nhiều hơn gấp đôi so với đội xếp thứ hai là Serie A (Ý), bao gồm câu lạc bộ hàng đầu ở 10 trong số 11 mùa giải từ 2009 đến 2019; Mỗi đỉnh cao này đều do Barcelona hoặc Real Madrid đạt được. Các câu lạc bộ La Liga giành được nhiều danh hiệu UEFA Champions League (19), UEFA Europa League (14), UEFA Super Cup (16) và FIFA Club World Cup (8) nhất, đồng thời các cầu thủ của họ đã tích lũy được số lượng giải thưởng Ballon d'Or cao nhất (24), Cầu thủ nam FIFA xuất sắc nhất (19)[c] và giải thưởng Giải thưởng Cầu thủ nam xuất sắc nhất năm của UEFA (12).[d] La Liga là một trong những giải đấu thể thao chuyên nghiệp phổ biến nhất trên toàn cầu, với số người dự khán trung bình là 26.933 cho các trận đấu trong mùa giải 2018–19.[6] Đây là giải đấu cao thứ tám trong số các giải đấu thể thao chuyên nghiệp trong nước trên thế giới và cao thứ ba trong số các giải đấu bóng đá của hiệp hội chuyên nghiệp trên thế giới, sau Bundesliga và Premier League, và cao hơn hai giải đấu còn lại, được gọi là "Big Five" các giải đấu châu Âu, Serie A và Ligue 1.[7][8] La Liga cũng là giải đấu thể thao chuyên nghiệp giàu có thứ bảy trên thế giới tính theo doanh thu, xếp sau NFL, MLB, NBA, Premier League, NHL, và Bundesliga.[9] Xem thêm tại : https://lichbongda.com/livescores/lich-bong-da-hom-nay-la-liga

Lịch_bóng_đá , #Bóng_ĐáQuốc_Tế , #BóngĐá_Hôm_Nay

[mariacallous]

In 2017, when Wolfgang Schäuble left his post as the German finance minister to become president of the country’s parliament, hundreds of ministry employees took a group photo to mark his departure. Standing in the ministry’s courtyard and dressed in black jackets, they formed a giant circle, a zero symbol, to honor the man seen as the face of German austerity measures. The “black zero,” or schwarze Null, is a reference to the requirement for balanced budgets enshrined in the German Constitution since 2009: Barring extraordinary circumstances, the Schuldenbremse, or “debt brake,” forbids the German government from taking on additional debts and limits Germany’s structural deficit to no more than 0.35 percent of annual GDP. Together, the two terms have formed the foundation of German fiscal policy since the 2008 financial crisis.

The black zero has been such an integral part of Germany’s approach to its finances that it has attained a mythical, and in certain settings, almost comical symbolic status. Members of the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) presented the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) state premier of Lower Saxony with a dark-chocolate cake shaped like the black zero for his birthday in 2015, intended as a not-so-subtle dig at his less constrained budget priorities. In 2014, the SPD finance minister for the state of Baden-Württemberg posed with a large cardboard cutout of a black zero to celebrate the state not taking on any new debts that year. And in a 2019 social media post, the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) posted an image of the black zero wearing a black leather fetish cap: “Yes, we admit we have a little fetish: solid finances without new debts!” the post read. “We stand by our fetish!”

The longtime fixation on the black zero illustrates the extent to which a dislike for debt is deeply ingrained in German politics and society. This is true on an individual level (many people rent rather than buy homes, credit cards are less widely used, and saving money is seen as a virtue), on a state and national level (through codified measures such as the debt brake) and on a European Union level (during the eurozone crisis, Germany built up a reputation as the bloc’s biggest backer of austerity measures). This attitude is even reflected linguistically: The word for debt, Schuld, literally means “guilt.”

But after facing the back-to-back crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine, Germany has moved away from its signature fiscal policy—at least temporarily. In 2020, after eight years of balanced budgets (from 2012 to 2019), bringing its total debt from around 80 percent of annual GDP down to 60 percent, then-Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the country was ready to abandon the black zero and spend heavily to offset the economic impact of the virus. As the impacts of climate change become clearer, some in German politics—especially the Greens—have also argued that it should be treated as an urgent problem requiring the same level of investment as the pandemic and the war.

“If the [German] government was honest, it would realize we are in a more or less permanent state of crisis … that we have huge transformations ahead of us, and it’s not optional,” said Marcel Fratzscher, the president of the German Institute for Economic Research. “It’s not whether or not we do it, it’s whether we do it more quickly and therefore more successfully and ultimately more cheaply, or do it more slowly, which will ultimately be much more damaging.”

Today, German politicians are engaging in new discussions about whether it is time to rethink not only their country’s approach to debt, but also the role of the state in preparing for and weathering disasters. Many German economists have seen the past three years as an exception, wanting Germany to reinstitute the debt brake as soon as possible; they argue that the government was able to spend so freely during the pandemic precisely because it had been frugal in the years preceding it.

“It was good that governments responded with expansionary fiscal policy. However, the war in Ukraine gave rise to the next crisis and expansionary fiscal policy,” said Niklas Potrafke, an economist with the Munich-based Ifo Institute for Economic Research. “I am concerned that the pandemic and the war in Ukraine induced an attitude that the size and scope of the government can increase forever. Governments need to consider consolidation strategies.”

But the debate has also given rise to voices who say Germany’s approach to fiscal policy is both wrong and, in the long run, damaging for the country. They would like to see a fundamental shift in the way Germany approaches its national debt, issuing new debt to invest in the future in projects such as updating the country’s aging infrastructure, rapidly building out a carbon-neutral energy system, and adapting to climate change.

Philippa Sigl-Glöckner, an economist originally from Munich, is one of them. After studying in the United Kingdom, working for the World Bank in Liberia, and spending two years as a bureaucrat in Germany’s Finance Ministry, she now leads a Berlin-based think tank, Dezernat Zukunft, that aims to change the conversation about government debt and sovereignty in Germany. To Sigl-Glöckner, the debate about Germany’s relationship with debt raises fundamental questions about the role of the state at a time when countries are facing unprecedented long-term challenges, such as climate change. What if, for example, the benchmark for a country’s fiscal stability were its fundamental values and metrics for the future, rather than its debt-to-GDP ratio? “We have it upside down at the moment: Debt to GDP is constrained, and CO2 [carbon dioxide] emissions are not,” Sigl-Glöckner said. “Fiscal policy, the whole financial and monetary system, should always follow our societal goals—that’s what it’s there for. And for some reason, we’ve managed to flip this around.”

While studying philosophy, politics, and economics at Oxford University in the United Kingdom, she felt a cognitive dissonance between what she was taught in her philosophy classes (that Western societies were founded on universal values such as democracy and human dignity) and the lessons from her macroeconomics classes (that the market is immutably in charge). “We have this normative idea and pretty strong consensus of what’s right, and then you do something different, and we say, ‘Sorry, this is like gravity, we can’t change it,’” she said. “But actually, it’s a social institution created by us … money is created by people.”

Sigl-Glöckner and her colleagues envision a revision of Germany’s debt brake, allowing the country to take on new debt to finance big-picture, long-term investments in infrastructure and public assets. The exact parameters of the reforms are up for debate, but they argue an amended debt brake could be based not on the percentage of debt to GDP, but rather on a metric such as the percentage of Germany’s infrastructure that is carbon neutral. This adjustment would allow the country to take on more debt to fund ambitious, much-needed projects. Through regular policy papers, interviews, and speeches, Sigl-Glöckner and her colleagues aim to take the debate out of policymaker circles and into the broader public—a tall order with a subject as opaque and complex as fiscal policy.

She noted that there is a fundamental difference between private debt and government debt: Private debt, like a loan on a home or a car, must be paid back under certain terms, or the person who took out the debt can face steep penalties. Governments, however, can issue debt in ways that don’t require it to be paid back—and governments like Germany’s, which have typically been able to do so at low interest rates, therefore have an opportunity to finance serious investments in the future.

Sigl-Glöckner returned to Germany from her World Bank post in Liberia in 2018, taking up a post in the Finance Ministry to better understand whether and how it would be possible to change the country’s approach to debt. Her experience in Liberia—where the government’s ability to pay back its debts is heavily reliant on the price of its main export, rubber—put Germany’s relative lack of such constraints in sharper focus. She found that certain assumptions about fiscal policy—that debt is bad and should be avoided as much as possible; a country’s debt should be limited to a certain percentage of its GDP—are so deeply ingrained that they are taken for granted, without real room for debate. “Limiting your debt is like an immutable, physical law. All these really big macro questions were completely taken out of the equation and turned into fundamental truths that are reflected in laws, reports, all of that.”

There are historical reasons for this attitude. The most-cited example is hyperinflation of the 1920s, although some economists question whether it’s the most salient reason for Germany’s attitude today: When the Weimar-era government printed more money to cover its debts and post-World War I reparations payments, the German mark lost nearly all its value, impoverishing much of the German population. The phenomenon is thought to have led to the rise of the Nazi Party in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

But German attitudes toward debt have their roots even further back than that, noted Fratzscher, of the German Institute for Economic Research. Germany was home to one of the first savings banks in the world, which opened in Hamburg in 1778. And before the country was unified in 1871, it was made up of smaller regional kingdoms and states that, over the centuries, fought in many wars. These wars were typically financed by savings, and accordingly, saving money was already seen as a virtue. After the devastation of World War II, the German government encouraged citizens to save their money—promoting the construction of social housing and rental buildings to help rebuild the country quickly, creating a culture where the majority of people rented rather than bought their homes and apartments.

The legacy of those policies remains today. Germany has one of the lowest home ownership rates in Europe: In 2021, just under 50 percent of Germans owned their homes, compared with figures as high as 95 percent in Romania and 66 percent in the United States. During the eurozone crisis in the aftermath of the 2008 financial collapse, Germany earned a reputation as the EU’s most miserly member, pushing austerity measures for its southern European neighbors. (Throughout the crisis and its aftermath, Merkel referred to the idea of a money-saving “Swabian housewife,” from the southwestern German region of Swabia, as an ideal model of financial responsibility. “She would have told us a piece of wisdom: You can’t live beyond your means in the long run,” Merkel famously said in 2008.)

That undercurrent throughout modern German history makes the challenges to that debt orthodoxy of the past three years even more notable. In 2020, the German government took on an additional 275 billion euros (nearly $300 billion) in new debt to finance various pandemic-related initiatives, including short-term work benefits for many of the country’s out-of-work employees. Then, just as the pandemic was receding in 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. Declaring it a Zeitenwende, or a “turning point,” in German foreign and security policy, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a special fund of 100 billion euros ($107 billion) to modernize the German military and bring the country up to the policy of 2 percent annual spending on defense that was pledged by NATO members.

And last fall, the German parliament voted to suspend the debt brake in order to pass a 200 billion euro ($214 billion) spending package to help ease the sting of inflation and rising energy prices brought on by Russia’s war in Ukraine. “The foundation for electricity and gas price brakes and other support has been created,” FDP Finance Minister Christian Lindner, a staunch defender of the debt brake who has consistently sought to limit the new government’s spending, wrote on Twitter at the time. “In this energy war, we must use our economic strength to sustain it.” (As of this year’s budget, the debt brake had been restored.)

The question now is what comes next. Will Germany revert to its pre-coronavirus approach, or have the past three years provided an opportunity to make significant changes? Steffen Murau, a Berlin-based political economist with the Global Climate Forum, sees the current government—a three-way coalition between the SPD, Greens, and FDP—as a representation of the fundamental debates about German fiscal ambition versus restraint. On the one side are politicians and policymakers such as Lindner and the two conservative parties in opposition—the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union—who say the debt brake exists for a reason, and that Germany should spend within the confines of that constitutional rule. The others have argued for varying reforms to the debt brake to allow for key investments, especially to prepare for a carbon-neutral future. At the moment, the two camps “are sort of neutralizing each other, which is obviously a bit frustrating to watch,” said Murau. “But on the other hand, it’s probably representative of the existing tensions within Germany, and so maybe it’s also good that it’s been internalized into the government, and they’re trying to deal with it.”

On both the German and the European level, Murau said political debates talk a big game about cutting debt but often make policy decisions that increase it. There are ways for governments to issue and take on debts beyond their main federal budgets, and leaders have used these to circumvent rules on budget deficits. The 100 billion euros pledged toward the German military, for example, was considered a one-time special fund to accomplish a given objective. These kinds of funds have also been used to overhaul the German postal and railway systems. “There’s a discrepancy between the debt discourse and what really happens,” he said. “The rule was that you’re not allowed to get more debt on treasury balance sheets, on the main public budgets. But you create all sorts of new vehicles where you can do that nevertheless … you just put it in these alternative budgets.”

Even though creating special funds for everything isn’t necessarily feasible, Murau said that using them for projects such as building out Germany’s renewable energy systems or revitalizing its aging infrastructure could be one way around the debt brake. Whether to enact such a fund then becomes a question of political will, and whether the current governing coalition could find a consensus to put these investments into place.

Whether fundamental structural change is possible in a country that tends to favor incremental steps and cautious policy is far from certain. But Sigl-Glöckner believes that the discussion is already beginning to shift: Even the fact that Lindner supported temporarily suspending the debt brake was a sign that today’s policymakers are potentially open to changes. She hopes that there will come a day when Germany’s attitudes could lead the way for a shift on the EU level as well—and encourage a broader transformation across the continent. “If Germany changed, I think that would change pretty much everything,” she said.

[grad603-024-ahnesshim]

Week 1.1 - Research on Speakers

TechJoseph Churchward - Artist + Type Designer

Image sourced from: https://designersinstitute.nz/initiatives/black-pin/2009/joseph-churchward/interview/

Samon-born NZ graphic designer and typographer

well-known for designing 690 original typefaces, which are used around the world

Born in Apia, Samoa on August 20 1933- English, Scottish, Tongan and Chinese background

moved to NZ, aged 13 and later attended Wellington Technical college, gaining an Art Distinction award

designs were used in Masthead of The Evening Post newspaper

After graduating from college, he went to work as a commercial artist at Charles Haines

In 1962 he left Charles Haines and set up Churchward’s lettering service, later known as Churchward International Typefaces

Founded Churchward International Tyoefaces in 1969, which became NZ’s largest typesetting firm

He specialised in creating fonts hand by hand - making detailed pencil sketches, tracing then inking on large cardboard boards  one alphabet could take up to 150-300 hrs

Not long after establishing company, leading German type company Berthold Fototypes accepted some of his fonts for international distribution 

Became NZ’s first and only company in NZ to publish original photo-lettering 

Information Sourced From: 

https://designersinstitute.nz/initiatives/black-pin/2009/joseph-churchward/interview/

https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/6c10/churchward-joseph

https://fontsinuse.com/foundry/191/churchward-type

Tobias Frere Jones - Educator + Type Designer

Image sourced from: https://fonts.adobe.com/designers/tobias-frere-jones

established himself as one of the world’s leading typeface designers

American type designer, born Tobias Edgar Mallory Jones, August 28 1970

created widely used typefaces such as Poynter Oldstyle, Whitney, Gotham, Surveyor, Interstate, Tungsten and Retina

he had exhibited sculptures, photographs and paintings in New York since 14

son of advertising copywriter and print buyer, he was surrounded with letterforms his childhood 

operates company Frere-Jones Type in New York city 

teaches typeface design at Yale School of Art MFA Program

received Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Rhode Island School of Design in 1992

joined the faculty of Yale University School of Art in 1996

Lectured throughout United States, Europe, Australia

work is permanent in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Museum of Modern Art in New York

Received the Gerrit Noordzji Prijs (Academy of Visual Arts The Hague (KABK) awarded him), AIGA medal (2013), and 2019 Cooper Hewitt’s National Design Award for Communication Design which recognized his contributions to typographic design, writing and education

Works displayed on Harper Bazzar, Newsweek, Premiere, Wired; Technology companies: Apple, IBM, HP, Kodak, Sony

Creates Modern typefaces which successfully compete with traditional types such as Helvetica, Univers and gill sans

Information Sourced From: 

https://frerejones.com/about

https://fonts.adobe.com/designers/tobias-frere-jones

https://designhistoryresearch.wordpress.com/category/tobias-frere-jones/

Verena Gerlach - Type + Graphic Designer

studied communication design at Kunsthochschule Berlin Weibensee from 1993 - 1998 with a focus on typography, spent one year (1996) as an exchange student at London College of printing

right after graduation 1998, started to work as a freelancer, mainly in graphic design for cultural organisations

since 2003 she is teaching typography, ddesign and type design in Germany, internationally as well such as Algeria, Jordan, Sweden and USA

started with type design then got into book design - however, importannt for her to do both in work because in book design she finds that she can do a better job at choosing typefaces and make better use of chosen typefaces and when designing typefaces, she has a better understanding of type as text ad as part of overall design

redesigned FF Karbid 1999 to FF kArbid 2011 (newer version) 

instructor of photography in 1991 and spent 1992 doing a first year course at Glasgow school of art

Information Sourced from: 

https://ilovetypography.com/2011/12/14/an-interview-with-font-designer-verena-gerlach/

https://www.fraugerlach.de/

Nadine Chahine - Researcher + Type Designer

award-winning Lebanese type designer working as the Uk type director and legibility expert at Monotype

has MA (taught postgraduate masters) in Typpeface design from the University of Reading, UK and a PhD from Leiden University, Netherlands

her research focuses on eye movement and legibiity stadies for Arabic, Laitn and Chinese scripts

numerous awards including two Excellence in Type Design from the Type directors in New York 2003 and 2011

her typefaces include Frutiger Arabic, Neue Helvetica Arabic, Univers Next Arabic and Palatino Sans Arabic and Koufiya

Feeatured in 5th ediiton of Megg’s histort of Graphic design and in 2012 she was selected by Fast company as one of its 100 most creative people in business

2016, wokr was showcased in 4th edition of First Choice, highlighting work of top 250 top global designers

prolific and vocal contributors to the field of contemporary Arabic type design

Information Sourced from: 

https://arabictype.com/about/

https://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/reputations-nadine-chahine

Carol Twombly

Born 1959, an American designer, best known for her type design

worked as type designer at adobe systems from 1988 thorugh 1999 - during that time she designed or contributed to deisgn of typefaces such as Trajan, myriad, adobe Caslon

retired from adobe and type design in early 1999 to focus on her other design interests - textiles, jewelry

american calligrapher, type designer graduated from Rhode Island school of design 

initially studied architecture folllowing her brother, however, thought graphic design would better suit her

“about this decision Carol says, “I discovered that communicating through graphics - by placing black shapes on a white page - offered a welcome balance between freedom and structure.”“

she has other artistic pursuits such as basketweaving, drawing, painting and jewellery making

gained valuable experience by drawing outline letters on vellum, inking them in and then taking them to a wall where she would view them through a reducing glass( digital drawing apps were not invented) 

after graduation spent one year working in Bostib graphic design studio

Information sourced from: 

https://fonts.adobe.com/designers/carol-twombly

https://www.digitalartteacher.com/blog/2019/05/carol/twomblyVeronica Burion -

Veronika Burian - Type Designer

Image Source: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.granshan.com%2Fveronika-burian&psig=AOvVaw0uC5G47Ytlpnh8WWAvjQhf&ust=1678088137594000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA8QjRxqFwoTCJDOisyjxP0CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAJ

Born in Prague 1973

originally studied industrial design in Munich then worked as product designer in Vienna and Milan

discovered passion for type, she graduated with distinction. from MA in Typeface Design course in reading, Uk in 2003

after few years as a typeface designer at DaltonMaag in London, she founded TypeTogether with Jose Scaglione - one of the most significant type foundries + development of tailored solutions for various clients

focus of TypeTogether font catalogue is on expressive text typefaces for digital and analog media

particularly involved in the mentoring program and for the GRANSHAN project for non-Latin fonts and typography which is unique in the world

Her typeface Maiola and others received TDC certificat of Excellence in Type Design 2004, and others recognised by international competitions (typetogether)

continues to give lectures and workshops at international conferences and universities

Information source: 

https://www.type-together.com/veronika-burian

https://fonts.adobe.com/designers/veronika-burian

Jessica Hische - Letterer + Designer

Born 1984, renowned letterer and illustrator originally from South Carolina

after recieving degree in graphic design and interactive design from Tyler school of Art, she worked with design firms like Headcase Design and Louise Fill

thought she could run her own business because she thought freelancing projects were earning more than a full time job

first clients came from acquaintances then from regional and national magazines and brands such as wes Anderson and American express

spoken at over 100 conferences worldwide

uses lots of lines to give sense of direction - a visual element that comes right after a point

helps creator to lead viewers eyes from one point to another

Best known for daily drop cap and Should I for free flowchart

Information source: 

https://www.zilliondesigns.com/blog/designer-spotlight-jessica-hische-typography-illustration/

https://prabook.com/web/jessica.hische/2208875

Johnson Witehira - Educator + Type Designer

Image source: https://www.johnsonwitehira.studio/about

completed master's in graphic design 2007 then a doctorate in Maori Visual arts in 2013

artist, designer and academic of Tamahaki and Ngai Tu te-auru descent

co-founder of both indigenous design and innovation Aotearoa (IdIA) and Waahi Wairua

since completion of doctorate in Maori Visual Arts his mission is o bring Maori culture into all aspects of NZ life

led Mari design for some of NZ’s most prominent organisations, such as, developing first set of Maori alphabet blocks, co-designing. PAKU gardening tools for children and developing first functional Maori-specific typeface

Information Source: 

https://www.johnsonwitehira.studio/

https://www.johnsonwitehira.studio/about

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 6.5

Holidays

Ameliorator’s Day (Azerbaijan)

Apple II Day

Arbor Day (New Zealand)

Aromatic Visibility Day

Atlantis Day

Barricade Day

Blackberry Prophecy Day (If it rains today, it means the blackberries will be small and full of seeds)

Breonna Taylor Day

Ecologist’s Day (Kazakhstan, Russia)

Elderberry Day (French Republic)

Environment Protection Day (Belarus)

Family Yahtzee Day

Father's Day (Denmark)

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Day

Festival of Popular Delusions

Flag Day (Turkey)

Global Jewish Unity Day

HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day

Hot Air Balloon Day

Hydrometeorologist Day (Tajikistan)

Indian Arrival Day (Suriname)

International Day for the Fight Against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing

Khordad Movement Day (Iran)

The King’s Birthday (New Zealand, Niue)

Liberation Day (Seychelles)

National Attitude Day

National Cancer Survivors Day

National Coworking Day (UK)

National Got Lift? Day

National Janet Day

National Jenny Day

National Joyce Day

National Lincoln Loud Day

National Report Stark Violations Day

National Shut Up Day

National Start Over Day

National Unity Day (Hungary)

National Women Chiropractors Day

One Plastic Free Day

Pansexual Day

President’s Day (Equatorial Guinea)

Reclamation Day (Azerbaijan)

605 Day

Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT) Awareness Day

Thank You Day

Walt Powell Memorial Day

Wiltshire Day (UK)

World Campaign for the Biosphere Day

World Day Against Speciesism

World Environment Day (UN)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Gingerbread Day

National Gingerbread Cookie Day

National Ketchup Day

National Veggie Burger Day

Sausage Roll Day

Independence & Related Days

Grundlovsdag (Constitution Day; Denmark, Faroe Islands)

1st Wednesday in June

Clean Air Day (Canada) [1st Wednesday]

Global Exhibitions Day [1st Wednesday]

Global Running Day (a.k.a. National Running Day) [1st Wednesday]

National Tailors’ Day [1st Wednesday]

Power of Youth Day (UK) [1st Wednesday]

Weekly Holidays beginning June 5 (1st Full Week)

Canadian Environment Week [Week of 6.5]

Ocean Devotion Week (thru 6.10)

Festivals Beginning June 5, 2024

Carabana Festival (Crans, Switzerland) [thru 6.8]

Happy Harry's RibFest (Fargo, North Dakota) [thru 6.8]

ILA Berlin Air Show (Berlin, Germany) [thru 6.9]

New Orleans Wine & Food Experience (New Orleans, Louisiana) [thru 6.9]

South Orange Downtown Farmers Market (South Orange, New Jersey) [thru 10.30]

Sweden Rock Festival (Sölvesborg, Sweden) [thru 6.8]

Sydney Film Festival (Sydney, Australia) [thru 6.16]

Tribeca Film Festival (New York, New York) [thru 6.16]

World Pork Expo (Des Moines, Iowa) [thru 6.6]

Feast Days

André Lhote (Artology)

Atlantis Sinking Day (Everyday Wicca)

The Bicycle and Helmet (Muppetism)

Boniface (Roman Catholic Church; Saint) [brewers, German brewers, innkeepers] *

St. Boniface (Positivist; Saint)

Chuck Klosterman (Writerism)

Conrad Marca-Relli (Artology)

Corn Dance to the Rain People (San Ildefonso Pueblo)

Dorotheus the Theban (Christian; Saint)

Dorotheus of Tyre (Christian; Martyr)

Doughnut Day (Pastafarian)

Festival for Hercules Custos (Ancient Rome)

Genesius, Count of Clermont (Christian; Saint)

Go For a Walk Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Illidius, Bishop of Auvergne (Christian; Saint)

Judgement Day (Nosegays; Shamanism)

Ken Follett (Writerism)

Media Ver V (Pagan)

Meinwerk (Christian; Blessed)

Nones of June (Ancient Rome)

Peter Wtewael (Artology)

Richard Scarry (Artology)

Rick Riordan (Writerism)

Sanctius (a.k.a. Sancho; Christian; Saint)

Three Glories of a Gathering (Beautiful Wife, Good Horse & Swift Hound; Celtic Book of Days)

Valeria (Christian; Saint)

Wild Man Fletcher Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

William Roberts (Artology)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Lucky Day (Philippines) [33 of 71]

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [31 of 57]

Premieres

Arctic Antics (Disney Cartoon; 1930)

Away We Go (Film; 2009)

Be-Bop-a-Lula, by Gene Vincent (Song; 1956)

Better Bait Than Never (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1953)

The Comeback (TV Series; 2005)

Come Blow Your Horn (Film; 1963)

For the Birds (Pixar Cartoon; 2000)

The Hangover (Film; 2009)

Harry and the Hendersons (Film; 1987)

A Kiss Before Dying, by Ira Levin (Novel; 1952)

Little Boy Boo (WB LT Cartoon; 1954)

Lovestoned, by Justin Timberlake (Song; 2007)

Lush Life, by Zara Larsson (Song; 2015)

The Man Who Watched Trains Go By (Film; 1953)

Memory Almost Full, by Paul McCartney (Album; 2007)

Mulan (Animated Disney Film; 1998)

My Left Foot, by Christy Brown (Autobiography; 1954)

Once Upon a Girl (Animated Film; 1976)

Patriot Games (Film; 1992)

Peter Grimes, by Benjamin Britten (Opera; 1945)

The Plague, by Albert Camus (Novel; 1947)

Pleading Guilty, by Scott Turow (Novel; 1993)

Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too (Black Mirror TV Episode; 2019)

Rififi (Film; 1956)

Rock of Ages (Film; 2012)

The Sea Wolves (Film; 1981)

Sixkill, by Robert B. Parker (Novel; 2011)

Spy (Film; 2015)

Tintin in the Congo, by Hergé (Graphic Novel; 1932) [Tintin #2]

Tooth or Consequences (Phantasies Cartoon; 1947)

The Truman Show (film; 1998)

Uncle Tom’s Bungalow (WB MM Cartoon; 1937)

Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Novel; 1852)

The Untouchables (Film; 1987)

What's New Pussycat?, by Tom Jones (Song; 1965)

Yankee Doodle Dandy (Film; 1942)

You’ve Got a Friend, by James Taylor (Song; 1971)

Today’s Name Days

Erika, Winfried (Austria)

Bonifacije, Bono, Darinka, Valerija (Croatia)

Dobroslav (Czech Republic)

Bonifacius (Denmark)

Vilimo, Viljar, Viljer, Viljo, Vilju (Estonia)

Sulevi (Finland)

Igor (France)

Bonifatius, Erika, Winifried (Germany)

Apollon, Dorotheos, Kinthia, Nikandros, Ploutarhos, Selene (Greece)

Fatime (Hungary)

Bonifacio, Ferdinando, Igor, Irene (Italy)

Igors, Ingvars, Margods, Margots (Latvia)

Kantautas, Kantvydė, Marcė (Lithuania)

Torben, Torbjørg, Torbjørn (Norway)

Bończa, Bonifacy, Dobrociech, Dobromir, Dobrymir, Nikanor, Waleria, Walter (Poland)

Dorotei (România)

Laura (Slovakia)

Bonifacio (Spain)

Bo (Sweden)

Dora, Dorothea, Dorothy, Ihor (Ukraine)

Boniface, Sancho, Santino, Santos (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 157 of 2024; 209 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of week 23 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Huath (Hawthorn) [Day 25 of 28]

Chinese: Month 4 (Ji-Si), Day 29 (Geng-Zi)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 28 Iyar 5784

Islamic: 28 Dhu al-Qada 1445

J Cal: 7 Blue; Sevenday [7 of 30]

Julian: 23 May 2024

Moon: 1%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 16 St. Paul (6th Month) [St. Boniface]

Runic Half Month: Odal (Home, Possession) [Day 12 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 79 of 92)

Week: 1st Full Week of June

Zodiac: Gemini (Day 16 of 31)

[brookston]

Holidays 6.5

Holidays

Ameliorator’s Day (Azerbaijan)

Apple II Day

Arbor Day (New Zealand)

Aromatic Visibility Day

Atlantis Day

Barricade Day

Blackberry Prophecy Day (If it rains today, it means the blackberries will be small and full of seeds)

Breonna Taylor Day

Ecologist’s Day (Kazakhstan, Russia)

Elderberry Day (French Republic)

Environment Protection Day (Belarus)

Family Yahtzee Day

Father's Day (Denmark)

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Day

Festival of Popular Delusions

Flag Day (Turkey)

Global Jewish Unity Day

HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day

Hot Air Balloon Day

Hydrometeorologist Day (Tajikistan)

Indian Arrival Day (Suriname)

International Day for the Fight Against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing

Khordad Movement Day (Iran)

The King’s Birthday (New Zealand, Niue)

Liberation Day (Seychelles)

National Attitude Day

National Cancer Survivors Day

National Coworking Day (UK)

National Got Lift? Day

National Janet Day

National Jenny Day

National Joyce Day

National Lincoln Loud Day

National Report Stark Violations Day

National Shut Up Day

National Start Over Day

National Unity Day (Hungary)

National Women Chiropractors Day

One Plastic Free Day

Pansexual Day

President’s Day (Equatorial Guinea)

Reclamation Day (Azerbaijan)

605 Day

Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT) Awareness Day

Thank You Day

Walt Powell Memorial Day

Wiltshire Day (UK)

World Campaign for the Biosphere Day

World Day Against Speciesism

World Environment Day (UN)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Gingerbread Day

National Gingerbread Cookie Day

National Ketchup Day

National Veggie Burger Day

Sausage Roll Day

Independence & Related Days

Grundlovsdag (Constitution Day; Denmark, Faroe Islands)

1st Wednesday in June

Clean Air Day (Canada) [1st Wednesday]

Global Exhibitions Day [1st Wednesday]

Global Running Day (a.k.a. National Running Day) [1st Wednesday]

National Tailors’ Day [1st Wednesday]

Power of Youth Day (UK) [1st Wednesday]

Weekly Holidays beginning June 5 (1st Full Week)

Canadian Environment Week [Week of 6.5]

Ocean Devotion Week (thru 6.10)

Festivals Beginning June 5, 2024

Carabana Festival (Crans, Switzerland) [thru 6.8]

Happy Harry's RibFest (Fargo, North Dakota) [thru 6.8]

ILA Berlin Air Show (Berlin, Germany) [thru 6.9]

New Orleans Wine & Food Experience (New Orleans, Louisiana) [thru 6.9]

South Orange Downtown Farmers Market (South Orange, New Jersey) [thru 10.30]

Sweden Rock Festival (Sölvesborg, Sweden) [thru 6.8]

Sydney Film Festival (Sydney, Australia) [thru 6.16]

Tribeca Film Festival (New York, New York) [thru 6.16]

World Pork Expo (Des Moines, Iowa) [thru 6.6]

Feast Days

André Lhote (Artology)

Atlantis Sinking Day (Everyday Wicca)

The Bicycle and Helmet (Muppetism)

Boniface (Roman Catholic Church; Saint) [brewers, German brewers, innkeepers] *

St. Boniface (Positivist; Saint)

Chuck Klosterman (Writerism)

Conrad Marca-Relli (Artology)

Corn Dance to the Rain People (San Ildefonso Pueblo)

Dorotheus the Theban (Christian; Saint)

Dorotheus of Tyre (Christian; Martyr)

Doughnut Day (Pastafarian)

Festival for Hercules Custos (Ancient Rome)

Genesius, Count of Clermont (Christian; Saint)

Go For a Walk Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Illidius, Bishop of Auvergne (Christian; Saint)

Judgement Day (Nosegays; Shamanism)

Ken Follett (Writerism)

Media Ver V (Pagan)

Meinwerk (Christian; Blessed)

Nones of June (Ancient Rome)

Peter Wtewael (Artology)

Richard Scarry (Artology)

Rick Riordan (Writerism)

Sanctius (a.k.a. Sancho; Christian; Saint)

Three Glories of a Gathering (Beautiful Wife, Good Horse & Swift Hound; Celtic Book of Days)

Valeria (Christian; Saint)

Wild Man Fletcher Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

William Roberts (Artology)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Lucky Day (Philippines) [33 of 71]

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [31 of 57]

Premieres

Arctic Antics (Disney Cartoon; 1930)

Away We Go (Film; 2009)

Be-Bop-a-Lula, by Gene Vincent (Song; 1956)

Better Bait Than Never (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1953)

The Comeback (TV Series; 2005)

Come Blow Your Horn (Film; 1963)

For the Birds (Pixar Cartoon; 2000)

The Hangover (Film; 2009)

Harry and the Hendersons (Film; 1987)

A Kiss Before Dying, by Ira Levin (Novel; 1952)

Little Boy Boo (WB LT Cartoon; 1954)

Lovestoned, by Justin Timberlake (Song; 2007)

Lush Life, by Zara Larsson (Song; 2015)

The Man Who Watched Trains Go By (Film; 1953)

Memory Almost Full, by Paul McCartney (Album; 2007)

Mulan (Animated Disney Film; 1998)

My Left Foot, by Christy Brown (Autobiography; 1954)

Once Upon a Girl (Animated Film; 1976)

Patriot Games (Film; 1992)

Peter Grimes, by Benjamin Britten (Opera; 1945)

The Plague, by Albert Camus (Novel; 1947)

Pleading Guilty, by Scott Turow (Novel; 1993)

Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too (Black Mirror TV Episode; 2019)

Rififi (Film; 1956)

Rock of Ages (Film; 2012)

The Sea Wolves (Film; 1981)

Sixkill, by Robert B. Parker (Novel; 2011)

Spy (Film; 2015)

Tintin in the Congo, by Hergé (Graphic Novel; 1932) [Tintin #2]

Tooth or Consequences (Phantasies Cartoon; 1947)

The Truman Show (film; 1998)

Uncle Tom’s Bungalow (WB MM Cartoon; 1937)

Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Novel; 1852)

The Untouchables (Film; 1987)

What's New Pussycat?, by Tom Jones (Song; 1965)

Yankee Doodle Dandy (Film; 1942)

You’ve Got a Friend, by James Taylor (Song; 1971)

Today’s Name Days

Erika, Winfried (Austria)

Bonifacije, Bono, Darinka, Valerija (Croatia)

Dobroslav (Czech Republic)

Bonifacius (Denmark)

Vilimo, Viljar, Viljer, Viljo, Vilju (Estonia)

Sulevi (Finland)

Igor (France)

Bonifatius, Erika, Winifried (Germany)

Apollon, Dorotheos, Kinthia, Nikandros, Ploutarhos, Selene (Greece)

Fatime (Hungary)

Bonifacio, Ferdinando, Igor, Irene (Italy)

Igors, Ingvars, Margods, Margots (Latvia)

Kantautas, Kantvydė, Marcė (Lithuania)

Torben, Torbjørg, Torbjørn (Norway)

Bończa, Bonifacy, Dobrociech, Dobromir, Dobrymir, Nikanor, Waleria, Walter (Poland)

Dorotei (România)

Laura (Slovakia)

Bonifacio (Spain)

Bo (Sweden)

Dora, Dorothea, Dorothy, Ihor (Ukraine)

Boniface, Sancho, Santino, Santos (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 157 of 2024; 209 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of week 23 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Huath (Hawthorn) [Day 25 of 28]

Chinese: Month 4 (Ji-Si), Day 29 (Geng-Zi)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 28 Iyar 5784

Islamic: 28 Dhu al-Qada 1445

J Cal: 7 Blue; Sevenday [7 of 30]

Julian: 23 May 2024

Moon: 1%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 16 St. Paul (6th Month) [St. Boniface]

Runic Half Month: Odal (Home, Possession) [Day 12 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 79 of 92)

Week: 1st Full Week of June

Zodiac: Gemini (Day 16 of 31)