Chocolate Candy

Chocolate Candy. The Hub Radio Show for Monday December 30, 2020. View the completely sweet playlist for 12-30-20 (CLICK HERE)

Bright Eyes, Margo Price, Angel Olsen, Jeff Tweed, Told Slant 

Chocolate comes from a bean called Theobroma cacao. The word "chocolate" itself comes from the Spanish, and it stems from the Aztec word xocolatl, which means "bitter water." The Aztecs pounded the cacao beans and drank them without adding any sugar, and they thought the beans came from the gods. Indeed, Theobroma means "food of the gods." Cocoa beans are about 50% "cocoa butter" and 50% "chocolate liquor." Hernando Cortés brought cocoa beans back to Spain, and a chocolate drink that included sugar became popular right away. The word "chocolate" first appeared in print, in England, in 1604. 

Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice. The 16th Annual Holiday Hub on The Hub Radio Show, Monday December 21, 2020. View the completely sweet playlist for 12-21-20 (CLICK HERE)

Bob's Burgers, The Archives , Landlady, Odd Robot, Pearl Charles, White Owl Red

Although the instant of the solstice can be calculated, direct observation of the solstice by amateurs is impossible because the sun moves too slowly or appears to stand still (the meaning of "solstice"). However, by use of astronomical data tracking, the precise timing of its occurrence is now public knowledge. One cannot directly detect the precise instant of the solstice (by definition, one cannot observe that an object has stopped moving until one later observes that it has not moved further from the preceding spot, or that it has moved in the opposite direction.) Furthermore, to be precise to a single day, one must be able to observe a change in azimuth or elevation less than or equal to about 1/60 of the angular diameter of the Sun. 
 

Halcyon Days

Halcyon Days. The Hub Radio Show for Monday December 14, 2020. View the completely medieval playlist for 12-14-20 (CLICK HERE)

Phoebe Bridgers, Waxahatchee, Tennis , U.S. Girls, adrianne lenker 

The Halcyon is a bird of Greek legend and the name is now commonly given to the European Kingfisher. The ancients believed that the bird made a floating nest in the Aegean Sea and had the power to calm the waves while brooding her eggs. Fourteen days of calm weather were to be expected when the Halcyon was nesting - around the winter solstice, usually 21st or 22nd of December. The Halcyon days are generally regarded as beginning on the 14th or 15th of December.
The kingfisher is associated with other powers relating to the weather. In medieval times it was thought that if the dried carcass of a kingfisher was hung up it would always point its beak in the direction of the wind [don't try this at home].

 
 

Fibonacci

Fibonacci Day. The Hub Radio Show for Monday November 23, 2020. View the completely spiral sequence playlist (CLICK HERE)

Songhoy Blues, Yukon Blonde , Lambchop , 

Today is Fibonacci Day! Celebrated on November 23rd, the date corresponds with the first four numbers of the Fibonacci Sequence (1,1,2,3). We love how the numbers of this famous pattern sometimes manifest in nature. Mesmerizing, right? Try to imagine a day without numbers. Never mind a day, try to imagine getting through the first hour without numbers: no alarm clock, no time, no date, no TV or radio, no stock market report or sports results in the newspapers, no bank account to check. It's not clear exactly where you are waking up either, for without numbers modern housing would not exist. A young Italian man, Leonardo of Pisa — the man who many centuries later a historian would dub "Fibonacci" — completed the first general purpose arithmetic book in the West, Liber abbaci, that explained the "new" methods in terms that ordinary people could understand — tradesmen and businessmen as well as schoolchildren. While other lineages can be traced, Leonardo's influence, through Liber abbaci, was by far the most significant and shaped the development of modern western Europe.
 

Look For Circles

Look For Circles. The Hub Radio Show for Monday November 2, 2020. View the completely complete playlist for 11-02-20 (CLICK HERE)

Alex the Astronaut, The Elwins, Nilufer Yanya 

Look for Circles Day is for looking up, down, and every which way in order to identify and point out objects shaped like circles. The day isn't limited to children, however; anyone can look for and point out circles. Circles can be found inside homes, at places of employment, on the street, in nature, and elsewhere. Look in your home, look in nature, look while walking down the street, and look wherever you go. You could challenge a friend or a group of friends to a contest to see who can find the most circles. You could look for circles in math.

Howl At The Moon

Howl at the Moon. Hub Radio Show for Monday October 26, 2020. View the completely lycanthropic playlist for 10-26-20 (CLICK HERE)

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah , Cardboard Club, Potugal. The Man, beabadoobee, DEHD 

Coming less than a week before Halloween, Worldwide Howl at the Moon Night celebrates wolves, animals that seemingly howl at the Moon. People go out and howl at the Moon. Wolves have been associated with the Moon for centuries, going all the way back to the Stone Age. Greek and Roman gods and goddesses were also known for keeping wolves with them. Wolves really don't howl at the moon though, they are communicating with other wolves in the their pack, and they hold their heads up towards the sky so that their howls carry longer distances. If there are no trees their howls can carry about ten miles.

Strawberry Cream Pie

 Strawberry Cream Pie. The Hub Radio Show for Monday September 28, 2020. View the completely decadent playlist for 9-28-20 (CLICK HERE)

Sufjan Stevens , SUUNS , Loma , Alex The Astronaut , Fenne Lilly

This day is dedicated to strawberry cream pie, a strawberry pie that is usually made with a filling of cream cheese, custard, or whipped cream. Crusts range from being sweet to savory, the strawberries can be whole or whipped in a mousse, and there are a range of toppings. Strawberries have been popular for thousands of years, but no one really started to cultivate them until the Renaissance in Europe. In the Americas, there were a few types of strawberries, including the "native American strawberry", also known as the "Virginia strawberry", which was sent back to Europe in the early 17th century. Native Americans ate strawberries, made them into bread, and had festivals at their harvest. But, it was not until the early 19th century when strawberries were cultivated in the Americas. They became a luxury of sorts, especially when served with cream! By the 1880's, 100 thousand acres of strawberries were under cultivation, and refrigerated rail cars helped transport them across the country.