It is 11/23 & I have seen the fnords (but tell nobody)

23 is: The 9th prime and the sum of 3 consecutive primes; 5, 7 and 11 The atomic number of Vanadium The number of chromosomes in a human sperm or ova (haploid) The number of times that Julius Caesar was stabbed.

The 23 enigma is the belief that most incidents and accidents, events and happenstances, and stuff, are somehow directly connected to the number 23. Robert Anton Wilson, William S. Burroughs, The Illuminatus! Trilogy (fnord), Principia discordia, etc. Like this open thread, for example.

23 BCE: Was the "Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Varro".  Was allegedly when Herod the Great built a palace in Jerusalem.  Had the usual problems with a plethora of gods, goddesses, demigods, prophets, seers, priests, priestesses and suchwhat running around loose; along with all of the concomitant auguries, sacrifices, soothsaying, prophecy and other nuisances that we find throughout antiquity.

23 CE: Was the "Year of the Consulship of Pollio and Vetus" This was the year in which the Greek geographer Strabo finally published his "Geography", a work describing the world known to the Romans and Greeks in Emperor Augustus' day. No similar works of similar antiquity exist. Pliny the Elder, a Roman scientist and writer, was born. Liu Xuan, a descendant of the Han Dynasty overthrew Wang Mang and ended the Xin Dynasty. Restored the Han Dynasty, he did. Same old gods and shit.

=== 11/23 sometimes generates links to the following pointless digression from anything and everything Mark 11:23 "Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them."

This has only happened once - Krakatoa - in August of 1883. It is alleged than a drunken sea capitan was the one to curse the mountain island. Nobody knows which Kahuna he called upon. ===

Using 11/23 as a date and not a sermon or prophecy, on that date in 534 BCE Thespis of Icaria became the first known actor to portray a character onstage. Hence thespian. 1644 John Milton published his Areopagitica, a pamphlet decrying censorship. A famous and seminal but ineffectual nice try. 1889 The first jukebox went operational in the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco. It contained mostly stuff for dancing "that old grizzly bear" and some Vince Guaraldi 1910 Johan Alfred Ander was the last person executed in Sweden. Waaaay ahead of the curve, those Swedes. 1924 Edwin Hubble's discovery that Andromeda was another galaxy was published in a newspaper 1946 The French naval bombardment of Hai Phong, Vietnam, killed thousands of civilians. This led to the First Indochina War. 1963 The BBC broadcast the first episode of Doctor Who. 1981 Ronald Reagan signed the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua. Can you say "Iran-Contra affair"?  2003In the so-called Rose Revolution, Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze was forced to resign due to weeks of mass protests financed and instigated from the US as a result of his choosing Russia for a pipeline terminus. 2011 President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen signed a deal to transfer power to the vice president in exchange for legal immunity.

People Born on 11/23 in 1837: Johannes Diderik van der Waals, a Dutch physicist and thermodynamicist. He was a Nobel Prize laureate known for van der Waals' force 1859: Billy the Kid, a U.S. criminal known for lethal force. 1888: Harpo Marx, a U.S. actor and singer. BINGO A star is born 1949: Alan Paul, a U.S. singer,songwriter, and actor (think The Manhattan Transfer) 1949: Sandra Stevens, an English songstress.  (think Brotherhood of Man) 1950: Chuck Schumer, a U.S. lawyer and politician 1962: Nicolás Maduro, a Venezuelan union leader and politician. Would you believe President of Venezuela?

Those who died on 11/23 1457: Ladislaus the Posthumous, a Hungarian king.) The Posthumous?? WTF? 1992: Roy Acuff, a U.S. singer, songwriter, and fiddler 1995: Louis Malle, a French-American director, producer, and screenwriter  1995: Junior Walker, a U.S. singer and saxophonist 2007: Robert Vesco, a Cuban-American financier. A major crook and a major Nixon (not a crook) backer. 2014: Clive Palmer, an English banjo player (Incredibly enough,The Incredible String Band) Who?

11/23 is a Christian feast day of (for?):

    Alexander Nevsky (in the Russian Orthodox Church)  Perhaps the greatest figure in the Kievan Rus' history; Prince of Novgorod, Grand Prince of Kiev and Grand Prince of Vladimir. He laid a crushing defeat on the invading Teutonic Knights (Crusaders) with just the usual country rabble at Lake Peipus. Sergei Eisenstein says it far better than I ever could in his 1938 historical movie "Alexander Nevsky". If you have never seen it, go do so. Afterward, for grins, go see "The Billion Dollar Brain" starring Michael Caine. Compare and contrast. A little Prokofiev anyone?

 St. George. Yes, it is once again St George's Day (in Georgia or Giorgoba (Georgia), this time). Same shit, different day. Pointless slaughter of endangered lizard by faceless hired killer (see illustration below).

See also www.caucus99percent.com/...

/////////// Now, about dancin' that ol' Grizzly Bear ---                  When I Woke Up This Morning, She Was Gone (Jim Jackson)

//////// Roy Acuff - The Wabash Cannonball (Live)                  

////// The Manhattan Transfer - Java Jive Hey, it's a morning open thread, right?

The Manhattan Transfer - Birdland                           

////// Brotherhood Of Man - United We Stand (The original group from 1970)            

////////////  The Incredible String Band - Empty Pocket Blues (Note how the incredible string flute dominates)

Seems to call for a seque to Jethro Tull, dontcha think? Sure you do                  Ye olde segue 1958 HITS ARCHIVE: The Swingin' Shepherd Blues - Moe Koffman Quartette (single version) 

Jethro Tull - Bungle in the jungle                                                                                          

Which brings us to - Jethro Tull-Too old to rock'n' roll, Supersonic TV 1976 UPGRADE                               

/////////////////////// And now, the star of our show: HARPO

Harpo Marx playing classics 

Harpo Marx in Horse Feathers [1932] 

Ah, Yes, our other main attraction:                                                Jr. Walker & The All-Stars - Shotgun                                                                               

JUNIOR WALKER and the ALLSTARS - "WHAT DOES IT TAKE" (to win your love) 1969     

Jr. Walker & The All Stars - "These Eyes" 

It's a very convoluted linkage, but I always associate "The Swingin' Shepherd Blues" (supra) with Chris Barber's Jazz Band's "Petite Fleur":                                                                           

Now go strut your stuff---                                                                                   Soulful Strut/Young-Holt Unlimited                                                                         

crossposted from www.caucus99percent.com