Will you observe Leap Year Day?

[Jeff Wrangler]

I never thought about this until I was on my way to work this morning.

[serious crayons]

I never thought about this until I was on my way to work this morning.

Nope, I'm not going to observe it -- I'm going straight to March 1. Then the next day to March 2 and so on, so I'll be a day ahead of the rest of the world from now on.  I'll meet all my deadlines with time to spare, pay bills early, say "happy birthday" to people when it's not yet their actual birthday ...

I suppose you meant, will you observe it with some special activity? The only thing I can think of is I'll try to remember to text "Happy Kangaroo Day!" to my younger son, who was born at about 8 a.m. on March 1, 1996. He came very close, obviously, to being born on Leap Year Day -- if he had, he'd only be 6 now.

So at one point, maybe when he turned 4, I told him about this. Some months after that, he asked to go over the details again. In his memory, I had called it "Kangaroo Day."

Another possibility I just thought of: I could get an extra hour of sleep to make up for the sleep I'll lose the following weekend, when DST begins. (   Did it always begin this early? If not, when did it used to be?)

[Jeff Wrangler]

Another possibility I just thought of: I could get an extra hour of sleep to make up for the sleep I'll lose the following weekend, when DST begins. (   Did it always begin this early? If not, when did it used to be?)

Since 2007, DST begins the first Sunday in March and runs until the first Sunday in November. Before then it began the first Sunday in April and ran until the last Sunday in October. Congress has fiddled with it from time to time. There must still be some sort of local option because Arizona doesn't observe it. (The Navajo Nation does on its Reservation, which is a big chunk of Arizona, so I can't imagine how people keep from being confused.) I remember it being really dark to go Trick-or-Treating when I was a little kid.

Thanks for mentioning this. I had totally forgotten it was this close.

I was thinking, maybe, have a glass of wine, or something, to make Leap Year Day special.

[serious crayons]

Since 2007, DST begins the first Sunday in March and runs until the first Sunday in November. Before then it began the first Sunday in April and ran until the last Sunday in October. Congress has fiddled with it from time to time. There must still be some sort of local option because Arizona doesn't observe it. (The Navajo Nation does on its Reservation, which is a big chunk of Arizona, so I can't imagine how people keep from being confused.)

I remember it being really dark to go Trick-or-Treating when I was a little kid.

I was thinking, maybe, have a glass of wine, or something, to make Leap Year Day special.

Thanks for the info! Arizona may be a different situation than Minnesota because it's so much farther south, but here I would never want to give it up and wouldn't mind having it all year around, which has been proposed. By the end of February, it's somewhat light out when I emerge from work at 6. But a week or so later, 6 will be 5 and it should be dazzlingly bright! (Of course, the 7ish sunrise will become 8ish for a while, but it's worth the tradeoff, and is better than the midsummer, when it's bright out by like 5:30.)

You'd think they'd have figured out the Halloween problem long ago for safety's sake.

Glass of wine is a good idea. Or maybe ... a martini! 

[Jeff Wrangler]

Thanks for the info! Arizona may be a different situation than Minnesota because it's so much farther south, but here I would never want to give it up and wouldn't mind having it all year around, which has been proposed. By the end of February, it's somewhat light out when I emerge from work at 6. But a week or so later, 6 will be 5 and it should be dazzlingly bright! (Of course, the 7ish sunrise will become 8ish for a while, but it's worth the tradeoff, and is better than the midsummer, when it's bright out by like 5:30.)

I wouldn't mind having DST year round, either. I think that people who complain about DST maybe haven't really figured out the implications of not changing the clocks. If we didn't turn the clocks ahead in the spring, around the time of the Summer Solstice sunrise would be around 4:30 in the morning, at least around here. At the other end of the year, if we didn't turn the clocks back an hour in the fall, sunrise around the time of the Winter Solstice would be around 8 a.m. or so. I wouldn't be surprised if the DST complainers wouldn't like that if they got it.

Glass of wine is a good idea. Or maybe ... a martini! 

Sounds like a plan! 

[brianr]

Sunrise is 6.50am here today and we still have about 6 week of DLS. Our daylight saving goes from the last Sunday in September to the first Sunday in April. I am sick of it now as it is dark when I get up at 6am but still light when I go to bed at 9pm.  It will be just before 8am the last day of DLS on April 4. It will be 8.20am at the Winter Solstice. I would hate it if it was still DLS then.

[CellarDweller]

I won't be celebrating it in any way.

[serious crayons]

I won't be celebrating it in any way.

You sound kind of blunt. Do you just mean you haven't made special plans, or that you dislike its existence and therefore don't want to celebrate it? It's a Saturday, so not a work day, if that helps.
 

[Front-Ranger]

Tonight, a new friend of mine said he wanted to walk with me on Leap Day. I can't think of anything better.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Tonight, a new friend of mine said he wanted to walk with me on Leap Day. I can't think of anything better.

Seems very sweet. 

[CellarDweller]

You sound kind of blunt. Do you just mean you haven't made special plans, or that you dislike its existence and therefore don't want to celebrate it? It's a Saturday, so not a work day, if that helps.

Oh, I'm  not against it.  I just meant I wasn't doing anything for it.

[brianr]

I just noticed that the Sydney Gay Mardi Gras Parade is on February 29 this year.
https://www.mardigras.org.au

[serious crayons]

I just noticed that the Sydney Gay Mardi Gras Parade is on February 29 this year.
https://www.mardigras.org.au

That's unorthodox, since the whole point of Mardi Gras is that it's the last day for a big blowout party before Ash Wednesday, when Lent kicks in. Fine by me, as I don't celebrate Lent, and perhaps the paraders don't either.

[brianr]

The Pride marches in the 1970's around Stonewall day in June were not very pleasant, not only because police famously broke one up and made over 50 arrests (1978) but also because it  was mid winter. It was moved to February in 1981. It is so named because it is like carnivale.
It is one of the largest such festivals in the world, and the largest Pride event in Oceania, attended by hundreds of thousands of people from around Australia and overseas. There are now events over the whole month of February It is New South Wales' second-largest annual event in terms of economic impact, generating an annual income of about A$30 million for the state. The parade and following party are the last events on the calendar. I took part in the 80's and later was a marshall for several years. I have not been for probably 25 years. These days there is a police contingent in the parade. I have just seen it will be the focus for World Pride 2023, the first time in the Southern Hemisphere.

[serious crayons]

I have not been for probably 25 years. These days there is a police contingent in the parade. I have just seen it will be the focus for World Pride 2023, the first time in the Southern Hemisphere.

Interesting! I wrote about a Pride festival in a park for the newspaper. I talked to people who said in the past they were afraid to be photographed for fear they'd lose their jobs. Now those concerns were minimal to absent. The event was sponsored by a bunch of really ordinary mainstream companies, like car dealerships or whatever, some of which had booths there. I talked to a woman who worked in the ticket office for the Minnesota Twins (baseball team). She was one who said she'd once been wary of being seen at Pride. Now she was hosting a photo shoot for passersby who wanted to pose with the Twins logo.

[brianr]

On that infamous day in 1978, I attended a Homosexual rights conference during the day but did not go to the march that night. It was nothing like the present day Mardi Gras Parade, just people marching and chanting, now it is all floats and people in costumes with contingents from many areas of society. As I said the police have a float and this year they are going to give the gay firefighters the leading spot after the dreadful summer. A few years later I rented a Spanish flamenco costume and had some of my students come up to me.
Back in 1978 I turned up at the conference the next morning to discover the police had cancelled permission for the parade in the middle of it and arrested over 50. Although all charges were later dropped the main Sydney newspaper published all names. Teaching in a Catholic school, it would have finished my career and I do not know how my mother would have coped. She was always supportive but did not want the world of her friends to know. Fifty years later in 2018 the parliament moved a unanimous apology and the newspaper also apologised but a bit late for some.  My diary of the time shows how upset I was, angry, relieved and ashamed all at once.
A year later I was at a Gay rights meeting listening to a leading judge in support of legalisation of homosexuality (came in 1984) and the TV camera came and panned me up and down. I was on the late night news and the whole school knew the next day but, of course, I was not doing anything illegal. In later years I was quite out at the school and I was told that the Catholic education authorities knew but would not do anything as long as I was not too public. The brothers at the school and other staff were quite supportive and I took my boyfriend to staff socials.

[serious crayons]

Wow, Brian, what a story. Somebody has probably already done this, but if not they should: It would make a great book or documentary. The author or filmmaker could track down people who were there, find out what happened to them back then and over the years and how they're doing today.

[brianr]

There was a TV documentary in 2018. I can only find the trailer on Youtube. It was called Riot

I think I cried all the way through it. I knew so many of the people involved

[brianr]

More about it here
https://www.78ers.org.au/what-happened-at-the-first-mardi-gras

[serious crayons]

There was a TV documentary in 2018. I can only find the trailer on Youtube. It was called Riot

I think I cried all the way through it. I knew so many of the people involved

That looks very powerful. One of the lead actors, Damon Herriman, has been in a few good shows here. He was a regular in Justified, one of my favorite TV shows (no longer on), where he played a hillbilly-ish, not-very bright, small-time criminal. And he has played Charles Manson twice, including in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I imagine he has a different kind of casting history down there.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I guess maybe I will be observing Leap Year Day by dining out. I haven't defrosted anything, and I just don't feel like cooking and cleaning up. I'm mindful that I will be dining out next Saturday before the ballet, but still. Now I just have to decide where I want to eat.

[brianr]

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade apparently went well.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-29/sydney-gay-and-lesbian-mardi-gras-thousands-party-at-parade/12012588
"We have had a pretty tough few months in Australia with bushfires and coronavirus and this is a good news event."

The 78ers, who marched in Sydney's first Mardi Gras 42 years ago, drew huge cheers from the crowd.

(Thankfully  I did not march in '78 when many were arrested but I was there in '79.)
RFS volunteer Samara Moat, from North Rocks, said she was having an amazing time at her first Mardi Gras.

"It's been absolutely fantastic to let our hair down," she said.

Fire and Rescue NSW Assistant Commissioner Paul McGuigan said the event had been wonderful after a busy year and the crowd had been right behind them.

"We get fantastic support every year but this year is really special," he said.

"It's a really nice way to celebrate what's been a challenging year with the whole community coming together."

"Mardi Gras means absolute pride, joy and acceptance — just being loved for who you are and a complete excuse to be fabulous,"

[Front-Ranger]

 

[Jeff Wrangler]

So I observed Leap Year Day be getting take-out for dinner.    I didn't feel like cooking. I've been wanting to try a place that opened about a year ago near where I used to rent an apartment. The sole offering is fried chicken and various side dishes. The sign outside describes it as "Craft Fried Chicken." When the place first opened, the sign read "Artisanal Fried Chicken."    The chicken was good, the pieces were generous in size, there was just more pepper in the breading than I care for.