July 5, 2013: Bikini Day

Today is Bikini Day, the two-piece swimsuit named after an atoll that we blasted to kingdom come with a nuclear bomb test. The island is gone but the swimsuit survives. Hey, Disney has water parks, so get out to Typhoon or Blizzard Beach.

Earth is at aphelion. This means that at this point Earth is at its farthest point from the sun. On at least one occasion someone interviewed Harvard graduates as they left the stage and one question they asked was, “Why do we have winter?” Over 70 percent of Harvard graduates answered, “Because we are farther from the Sun.” This is dead wrong as you can see; we are in summer, yet we are as far as we ever get away from the Sun (and in the Southern Hemisphere it is winter). The seasons come from the 23.5-degree tilt of the Earth and whether or not the place you live is pointed toward or away from the Sun. You are now smarter than a Harvard graduate. Go to the Seasons restaurant in the Land Pavilion (formerly Sunshine Seasons) and enjoy a variety of foods, perhaps the greatest variety of all counter service restaurants.

On this day in 1912, Mack David was born in New York City. Mack was the older brother of Hal David and both of them were renowned lyricists and songwriters. Among the songs in Mack’s repertoire are: “A Dream is A Wish Your Heart Makes,” “The Working Song,” “Bibbidi, Bobbidi Boo,” and “The Unbirthday Song.”

You could visit Cinderella’s Royal Table in Cinderella Castle to honor Mr. David.

Warren Oates, from Depoy, Kentucky, was born on this dates in 1928. Oates was a master at playing hard case characters. I remember him fondly from The Wild Bunch, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia and as Sergeant Hulka in Stripes. Oates also appeared in The Blue and the Gray, a civil war mini-series that we have shown to our eighth grade students over the years. Oates did a lot of guest star appearances and a couple of Disney turns but what we’ll key on here are his appearances on The Twilight Zone, which of course means, Tower of Terror.

Quickies:

1928: Katherine Helmond was born in Galveston, Texas. Katherine starred in Soap, Who’s the Boss?, and Everybody Loves Raymond. She also was the voice of Lizzie in Cars and Cars 2. Visit the Art of Animation resort and the Cars quad in her honor.

1950: Huey Lewis is born in New York City. Lewis sang "Once Upon A Time In New York City" for Disney's 1988 animated feature Oliver & Company and appeared in Disney's movie Duets with Gwyneth Paltrow. As the lead singer of Huey Lewis and The News, he appeared in concert at Disney World's Pleasure Island on New Year's Eve 1998. Pleasure Island is being adapted, I am sure, as part of Disney Springs but you can still visit.

1810: Phineas Taylor Barnum was born in Bethel, Connecticut. P.T. Barnum was a circus promoter with the Barnum & Bailey Circus. Visit Storybook Circus in New Fantasyland.

Remember, your best excuse is always: waiting for your dreams to come true.