Father's have a day too! (3rd Sunday fo June)

Father's Day was a celebration inaugurated in the early twentieth century to complement Mother's Day in celebrating fatherhood and male parenting, and to honour and commemorate fathers and forefathers. Father's Day is celebrated on a variety of dates worldwide and typically involves gift-giving to fathers and family-oriented activities.

The officially recognized date of Father's Day varies from country to country.

In China (under the title of Republic of China, still under Nationalist rule at the time), Father's Day on August 8 was first held in Shanghai in 1945. Only in Germany there is no such thing as Father's Day as celebrated throughout the western world. There are two terms and/or events of an older origin that while similar in name, have entirely different meanings. Männertag, is always celebrated on Ascension Day (the Thursday forty days after Easter), which is a federal holiday. Regionally, it is also called men's day, Männertag, or gentlemen's day, Herrentag. It is tradition to do a males-only hiking tour with one or more smaller wagons, Bollerwagen, pulled by manpower. In the wagons are wine or beer (according to region) and traditional regional food, Hausmannskost, which could be Saumagen, Liverwurst, Blutwurst (Blood Sausage), vegetables, eggs, etc.

Some parts of Germany (such as Bavaria) call this particular day "Vatertag", which is the literal equivalent to Father's Day.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, Father's Day is celebrated on Saint Joseph's Day, commonly called Feast of Saint Joseph, March 19, though in most countries Father's Day is a secular celebration.

Father's Day in Taiwan is not an official holiday but is widely observed on August 8 which is the eighth day of the eighth month of the year. In Mandarin Chinese, the pronunciation of the number 8 is bâ. This pronunciation is very similar to a character of their alphabet pronounced "bà" meaning "Papa" or "father". Taiwanese, therefore, usually call August 8 in its nick name as "Bâbâ Day".

In the United States, it was first celebrated as a church service at Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South, now known as Central United Methodist Church. Grace Golden Clayton, who is believed to have suggested the service to the pastor, is believed to have been inspired to celebrate fathers after the deadly mine explosion in nearby Monongah the prior December. This explosion killed 361 men, many of them fathers and recent immigrants to the United States from Italy. Another possible inspiration for the service was Mothers' Day, which had been celebrated for the first time two months prior in Grafton, West Virginia, a town about 15 miles (24 km) away.

Father's Day is now universally accepted to fall on the third Sunday of June. Retailers have adapted to the holiday by promoting male-oriented gifts such as electronics, tools and greeting cards.

Source: wikipedia

Laff lines

Love thy wife
Walter arrived at his office late one morning and was greeted with giggles from the pretty young receptionist.
"What are you laughing at?" asked Walter.
"There's a big black smudge on your face," said the girl.
"Oh, that!" said Walter. "That's easy to explain. I saw my wife off on a month's vacation this morning; I took her to the station and kissed her good-bye."
"But what about the smudge?"
"As soon as she got on board, I ran up and kissed the engine."

Life is too long
I recently picked a new doctor. After a couple visits and exhaustive lab tests, he said I was doing 'fairly well' for my age.
A little concerned about that comment, I couldn't resist asking him, "Do you think I'll live to be 80?"
He asked, "Do you smoke tobacco, or drink beer or wine?"
"Oh, no," I replied. "I'm not doing drugs, either!"
Then he asked, "Do you eat rib-eye steaks and barbecued ribs?"
I said, "No, my last doctor said that all red meat is very unhealthy!"
"Do you spend a lot of time in the sun, like playing golf, sailing, hiking, or bicycling?"
"No, I don't," I said.
He asked, "Do you gamble, drive fast cars or have hectic relationships?"
"No," I said.
He looked at me and said, "Then why do you even care?"

Super mom
One day a mother took her 6-year-old son with her to visit a friend at work. Everyone there knew her, and she was offered a cup of coffee. That day, as one of the employees went to make more coffee, her son followed her and asked, "What are you doing?"
"I'm making your mom's favourite drink," she answered.
Imagine the woman's shock when she heard her son say, "Wow! You know how to make beer?"

Pets
Jimmy: 'Hey, Mike! How's your new pet fish doing? You told me he was really something special.'
Mike: 'To tell the truth, I'm really disappointed in him.
The guy who sold him to me said I could teach him to sing like a bird.'
Jimmy: 'What? Let me get this straight... You bought a fish because you thought you could teach him to sing like a bird?'
Mike: 'Well, yeah. After all, you know, he's a parrot fish.'
Jimmy: 'Now listen, Mike, while you might be able to teach a parrot to sing, you're never going to get anywhere with a parrot fish.'
Mike: 'That's what you think! It just so happens this fish CAN sing. The thing is, he's terribly off-key and it's driving me crazy. Do you know how hard it is to tuna fish?'

Today nearly 100 years have elapsed since the first father's Day was celebrated. Fathers of 1900 didn't have it nearly as good as fathers of today; but they did have a few advantages.

In 1900, a father's horsepower meant his horses. Today, it's the size of his car.

In 1900, if a father put a roof over his family's head, he was a success. Today, it takes a roof, a car, a gaming console, multiple teachers to coach every subject and cool cellphones. And that too before the kid starts high school.

In 1900, a father waited for the doctor to tell him when the baby arrived. Today, a father must wear a smock, know how to breathe, and make sure film is in the video camera.

In 1900, fathers passed on clothing to their sons. Today, kids wouldn't touch Dad's clothes if they were sliding naked down an icicle.

In 1900, fathers could count on children to join the family business. Today, fathers pray their kids will soon come home from college long enough to teach them how to work the computer and set the VCR.

In 1900, a father smoked a pipe.
If he tries that today, he gets sent outside after a lecture on throat cancer.

In 1900, fathers and sons would have heart-to-heart conversations while fishing in a stream. Today, fathers pluck the headphones off their sons' ears and shout, "WHEN YOU HAVE A MINUTE..

Atlanta was the daughter of Schoeneus. She was left in the forest as a baby because her father didn't want a daughter and was brought up by a hunter. One day Meleager (the son of King Oeneus) found her in the forest. By that time she had become a beautiful young woman and a fierce hunter and the two fell in love with each other. Meleager killed many men including his own brothers because they tried to sleep with Atlanta. His mother killed him by burning the log which was his life. Atlanta was grief stricken. She found her father and refused to marry anyone. Her father then made a deal with her; any man who will be able to outrun Atlanta (who was also a very good runner) in a race will marry her. The failures would be executed.

Many young men raced against her and lost their lives. The suitor Melanion (also known as Hippomenes) knew that he could not win a fair race with Atalanta, but was enthralled by her beauty. Melanion then prayed to the goddess Aphrodite for help. The goddess gave him three golden apples and told him to drop them one at a time to distract Atalanta. Sure enough, she stopped running long enough to retrieve each apple. Melanion won the race and married Atlanta.

Myths are actually stories passed on to many generations to teach them some lessons of life. The myth of Atlanta tries to teach us that any task can be completed if we are determined. This race of life can be won the way Melanion won his race against Atlanta. We just need to stay focused and be ready to face all the difficulties. After all we are mere humans and life is not perfect.

By Nishita Aurnab

Quotes

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."
--Galileo Galilei

"There are two kinds of people who never amount to much: those who cannot do what they are told, and those who can do nothing else."
--Cyrus Curtis

"The weirder you're going to behave, the more normal you should look. It works in reverse, too. When I see a kid with three or four rings in his nose, I know there is absolutely nothing extraordinary about that person."
--P. J. O'Rourke

"If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm."
--Vince Lombardi (1913 - 1970)

"Men are like fine wine. They all start out like grapes, and it's our job to stomp on them and keep them in the dark until they mature into something which you'd like to have dinner with."
--Anonymous woman

"The only way to avoid being miserable is not to have enough leisure to wonder whether you are happy or not."
--George Bernard Shaw

"When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it."
--Bernard Bailey