Hispanic Heritage Month

September 15th to October 15th is officially recognized as Hispanic Heritage Month in the USA.The dates of the observance were chosen due to the timing of El Grito, the "cry" that brought the independence of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua's independence (followed closely by Mexico and Chile.).
 

Some fellows celebrating "El Grito"

"Hispanic" vs. "Latino"

I suppose it's kind of interesting that whoever named the month chose the term "Hispanic" instead of, say, "Latino." Hispanic sounds old-fashioned to me, but then again, I know people younger than me who refer to themselves as just that. I still think it's like calling February "Colored History Month" or May being "Oriental Heritage month." The government's choice of "Hispanic" probably owes to the fact that the term "Latino" was in less common usage forty years ago when the observance was instigated by Lyndon B. Johnson (initially as Hispanic Heritage Week). Both terms are considered offensive by some indigenists since they disappropriate Native Americans from their origins and languages by defining people with sometimes no European ancestry with Eurocentric terms.

St. Ciarán of Clonmacnoise Day - Catholicism



Kiku no Sekku (Chrysanthemum Day) - Japan 

  
Republic Day - North Korea



Independence Day - Tajikistan



Admission Day - California



Synaxis of the Theopatores Joachim and Anna - Orthodox Christianity



Father Laval Day - Mauritius

Catholicism - Santa Rosa de Lima & Saint Philip Benitius' Feast Days.

Santa Rosa is the patron saint of the Peruvian Police Force and of people ridiculed for their piety. Phil B. was a Florentine who raised a couple of kids from the dead, exorcised a demon and smote some blasphemers. Don't ridicule!

           

Lithuania - Black Ribbon Day

A Day of Mourning in Lithuania, marking the Nazis' and Soviet's "political rearrangements" wherein they decided how to divide up Eastern Europe.

      

Rome - Vulcanalia

Vulcanalia is celebrated by sacrificing a red bull-calf and a red-boar to encourage Vulcan to keep the destructive power of fire in check. Maybe drink a red bull and pray that Griffith Park doesn't go up in flames this year.
Romania - Liberation Day

  
 

These chaps have the right idea! 

  



   

Some "Cut & Run" types think it's ok to celebrate such other July 4th holidays such as:

Filipino - American Friendship Day
Day of Agwe - Haiti
Birthday of Queen Sonja - Norway
Commemoration of Jewish Genocide - Latvia
Family Day - Lesotho
Fisherman's Day - Marshall Islands
Independence Day - Rwanda
King's Day - Tonga

At Amoeba Hollywood we've been kicking around the idea of a Reptilesploitation sub-section in horror. Whilst it's easy to think of several killer crocodilian movies or films featuring man-eating-snakes, it's proven much harder to think of any featuring turtle terrors or lethal lizards. But the occasion of  World Turtle Day has given me reason to think harder. Maybe they aren't horror films, but any of these are a great way to celebrate this Testudinal holiday.

There's a whole series of Gamera films brought to you from those crazy guys over at the Daiei Motion Picture Studio.

And who can forget those Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- a group of heroes in half-shells named after a group of 16th century homosexuals and led by a sewer rat. What's the text about the subtext called?

I'm sure you heard about the giant turtle at Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi. Until now it was thought to be extinct until he (or she) has made some appearances recently... which is supposed to portend something big. Here's some footage accompanied by the kind of  Vietnamese music you'll never hear at Ginger Grass.