It’s National Yellow Pig Day!  It’s National Yellow Pig Day!

What the **** is National Yellow Pig Day?

See, I’ve got your attention.

Regular old “National Pig Day” is always March 1st…as I’m sure all of my followers know.  I mean, of course we all celebrate and give thanks for domesticated pigs. (I have to admit, I thought they meant my kids, but then I realized they meant REAL pigs…with the curly tails and everything!)

But NYPD (National Yellow Pig Day, not the TV series) is something totally different.  It is a Mathmetician’s Ho

liday founded by Michael Spivak and David C. Kelly in the early 1960’s.  While at Princeton University (they must have been fairly smart guys) they were listing properties of the number “17″ and during this exciting mind provoking activity, the Yellow Pig was born.  Most likely it had 17 of everything…toes, eyes, curly tails etc.  Since then, the Yellow Pig and the number

 17 have been linked for all eternity.  Since I didn’t get into Princeton, I’m not smart enough to follow the logic, but I will take Michael and David’s word that this all makes sense and we should therefore celebrate the union of the Yellow Pig and “17″.

In honor of this special day, I have chosen a few very specific things to do to celebrate.  First off, I will call each of my children and wish them a Happy NYPD.  (Sorry, I still can’t help making the connection when I think of pigs..yellow or not.). Secondly, I will do everything in multiples of 17…I will try to find matches for at least 17 of the mismatched socks in my laundry room, I will limit the times I go up and down my household stairs to 17 (it’s usually much higher in a day and a

ll I can hope is that my 17th trip is UP so I can sleep in my own bed tonight), I will ONLY play 17 games of “Scramble” on Facebook (I’m completely addicted and this one will be hard), and I will promise to eat 17 Double Stuff Oreos before the end of the day.  Hey, Someone’s got to do it!!!!!

Should you find yourself wanting to celebrate this increasingly popular holiday with me, please let me know what YOU are going to do 17 times today. If you are stumped you can always “retweet” the following for me… #SAVETHEYELLOWPIGS!

National Ventriloquism Week is July 16th-19th.  The first thing you may notice is that this Holiday does not span an entire week…but what can you expect from a bunch of Dummies!

Ventriloquism dates back to a religious practice. The name comes from the Latin for to speak from the stomach; the Greeks called this gastromancy (Greek: εγγαστριμυθία). The noises produced by the stomach were thought to be the voices of the dead, who took up residence in the stomach of the ventriloquist. The ventriloquist would then interpret the sounds, as they were thought able to speak to the dead, as well as to foretell the future. Hmmm, the early generations of entertainers!!!! People will do anything for a buck!

So why should we celebrate them nationally? Well, they’re funny! Looking back, I think every young boy or girl at one time wished they could master the art of Ventriloquism, and playing with puppets has always been a favorite.  Admit it, those Dummies say the things we’d love to be able to get away with!  

We are lead to believe that Ventriloquists “Throw their Voice”, but of course in reality they don’t.  Ventriloquist’s rely on the same principles that  Movie Theaters do. Studies at the Department of Physiology at the University of Sydney have been conducted to show that our brains believe that the voices are indeed coming directly from the mouths of the actors, not the speakers located throughout the theater. Cool, huh? We’ll believe anything if it is entertaining enough!

Of course today, we most often see Ventriloquists as night club acts.  They aren’t channeling witches or demons anymore, but merely trying to make us laugh…which most of the time they do!

From the early years of “Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy” (gotta love the Coca-Cola intro on this one), to “Senor Wences with Johnny and Pedro” ( who were around long enough to perform on both The Ed Sullivan Show AND the Muppet Show), all the way to Jeff Dunham and Achmed the Dead Terrorist, (you know you’ve watched it on YouTube…more than once!) Ventriloquists will continue to make us laugh and amaze us with their talents.

If you believe you might have what it takes to become a Ventriloquist, visit the National Ventriloquist’s Association and take a look at some of the products they have to hone in on your skills.  No, I’m not an affiliate for them, just a fan.

But wait! 

Maybe I have a future as a Ventriloquist after all…have you seen my lips move ONCE while on my blog?

(FYI: I’m the Dummy on the Left!)

Happy National Ventriloquist’s Week!