February is when Cupid lets fly with the arrow of love. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Buffalo Bill duck the shot, all hoping the groundhog, too, will escape injury. Nobody wants the weather-predicting rodent to fall in love with winter.
1 Bubblegum Day - and the wisdom of now-retired Bazooka Joe. Born in the 1950s, the kid with the eye-patch starred in more than 1,000 little comic strips, each of which came wrapped around a jaw-challenging chunk of pink gum. Also, each strip offered a “fortune” to chew on, including:“Your homework is like a juicy steak - rarely done.” “You could be an astronaut someday. The teacher says all you do in class is take up space.” “You can count on others, but it’s better to use your own fingers and toes.”
FRODO A GO-GO One-Man Lord of the Rings with Charles Ross, 4
and 8 p.m. at Walton Arts Center, Fayetteville. Details at waltonartscenter.org. Call (479)-443-5600.
Saints and Sinners black-tie gala, 6 p.m. at the Statehouse Convention Center, Little Rock, benefits Arkansas Repertory Theatre. Details at therep.org. Call (501) 378-0445.
THE SHADOW KNOWS
2 Groundhog Day.
“This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather.” - Phil Connors (Bill Murray), Groundhog Day.
BEST PASS OF THE GAME IS THE CHEESE DIP Super Bowl Sunday. Super Bowls go by Roman numerals, and this year’s game will be: (A) VIIIXL, (B) XLVIII, or (C) WD-40.
Answer at Feb. 23.
PEEK ACHIEVEMENT 3 Intimate Apparel Market Week - because sometimes all it takes is a flimsy excuse.
’SPLAININ’ TO-DO 4 I Love Lucy stage show through Feb. 9 at Walton Arts Center, Fayetteville. Call (479) 443-5600.
Lucy: Do you know that there’s a yellow-bellied woodpecker on our lawn?
Ricky: No, but I know that there’s a red-headed cuckoo in the living room.
DON’T RAIN ON THE PARADE 5 Weatherman’s Day celebrates the poor guy who never gets away from his work.
CHAMPION CHOMPERS 6 National Pet Dental Health Month. They don’t call ’em canine teeth for nothing.
WAY TO A MAN’S HEART 7 Sweetheart Valentine’s Dinners, 6-9 p.m. Feb. 7 and
Feb. 8 at Williams Tavern, Historic Washington State Park near Hope. Details at historicwashingtonstatepark.com. Call (870) 983-2684.
ZAP ATTACK
A Taste of the Wildlife dinner and laser shooting gallery, 6:30 p.m. at Pine Bluff Country Club, benefits the Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas. Details at artssciencecenter.org. Call (870) 536-3375.
Drama Joe Turner’s Come and Gone through Feb. 8 and Feb. 14-15 and 20-21 at The Weekend Theater, Little Rock. Details at weekendtheater.org. Call (501) 374-3761.
SPROUT OUT SHOUT OUT
8 Home and Garden Seminar and Show at the Pine Bluff Convention Center, Pine Bluff. Details at pinebluffcvb.org. Call (870) 534-1033.
THIS AND TAT
Tea and Tatting for Beginners workshop, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at Plantation Arkansas Museum in Scott near Little Rock. Call (501) 961-1409.
Sweetheart Saturday restaurant sampler and auctions, 1-3 p.m. at Hughes Community Center, Russellville, benefits Arkansas Hospice. Details at arkansashospice.org. Call (479) 498-2050.
WITH A CHERRY ON TOP
9 National Cherry Month, Grapefruit Month, Fabulous Florida Strawberry Month -because sometimes life hands you a fruit salad.
TISKET-A-TASKET
10 Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month- especially the one with the wobbly wheels.
WHOSE BRIGHT IDEA?
11 Thomas Edison’s electrified birthday, 1847. Or in the words of Mrs. Edison: “If he’s not home in 15 minutes, he’d better invent a good excuse.”
ABE ABIDES
12 Sixteenth President Abraham Lincoln’s log-splitting birthday, 1809.
CAREFUL WITH THE PITCHFORK, PA 13 American Gothic painter Grant Woods’ birthday, 1891.
ALL HEART 14 Valentine’s Day, Library Lovers Month, and still no answer to the question: Who?
- who? - who wrote the book of love?
Hikes, Hearts and Hugs weekend through Feb. 16 at Petit Jean Park near Morrilton. Details at petitjeanstatepark.com. Call (501) 727-5441.
Weddings Month - because Cupid shoots two arrows at the same time even better than Robin Hood.
LICK AND A PROMISE AmeriStamp Expo, American Philatelic Society postage stamp collectors’ show through Feb.
16 at the Statehouse Convention Center, Little Rock. Details at stamps.org. Call (814) 933-3803.
THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE Lanterns! Festival through Feb. 16 at Wildwood Park for the Arts, Little Rock. Details at wildwoodpark.org. Call (501) 821-7275.
PEANUT GALLERY Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham and his puppet pals Walter, Jose Jalapeno and Peanut, 7 p.m. at Verizon Arena, North Little Rock.
Details at verizonarena.com. Call (800) 745-3000.
“We cannot talk at the same time! I talk, you talk, I talk, you talk - that’s it. Focus!” - Peanut OH, YOU KID Community Theatre of Little Rock musical, Baby, through Feb. 16, Feb. 21-23 and Feb.
28-March 2 at the Public Theatre, Little Rock. Details at ctlr-act.org.
Call (501) 410-2283.
HIP HOORAY AND BALLYHOO
15 Arkansas Symphony Orchestra concert, Best of Broadway, 8 p.m. Feb, 15 and 3 p.m. Feb. 16 at Robinson Center Music Hall, Little Rock. Details at arkansassymphony.org. Call (501) 666-1761.
CANDY BLISSES Chocolate Lovers’ Festival, desserts and charity auction, 9 a.m.-3 p.m at the Inn of the Ozarks Convention Center, Eureka Springs. Details at eurekasprings.org. Call (479) 253-8737.
TWITTER FEED
16 National Bird-Feeding Month.
YANKEE DOODLE WENT TO TOWN, BUT THE BANK WAS CLOSED
17 George Washington’s Birthday, the state and federal holiday and mattress sale.
Daisy Gatson Bates Day, the state holiday.
HIPPIE YIPPEE
18 Broadway musical Hair through Feb. 20 at Robinson Center Music Hall, Little Rock. Details at celebrityattractions.com. Call (501) 244-8800.
FISHING FOR COMPLIMENTS
19 PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Is today your birthday? If so, you’re stuck with trying to make some kind of a party out of a Wednesday. Looks like frozen fish sticks again. In a better world, everybody’s birthday would be on a Friday night.
African American History Month program, 11:30 a.m. at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, Little Rock. Details at arkmilitaryheritage.com. Call (501) 376-4602.
HE GOT AROUND
20 John Glenn orbits the Earth, 1962. The view from space shows another 5 p.m. traffic jam on Little Rock’s Colonel Glenn Road.
THIS STEM AND THOSE
21 Arkansas Flower and Garden Show through Feb.
23 at the Statehouse Convention Center, Little Rock. Details at argardenshow.org. Call (501) 821-4000.
CHERRY PIE GUY 22 George Washington’s actual birthday, 1732.
BOWLED OVER
23 What IV quiz answer: (B) Superbowl XLVIII, the 48th - and what football terms mean in today’s televised game of more commercials than any other kind of interception: First and 10: The first of 10 showings of the same ad. Dual-threat quarterback: The same guy pitches for shaving cream and chicken wings. Offside: An ad that pops up in the corner of the screen. Hidden yardage: Product placement. Fantasy football: The game with no interruptions.
DIP IN
24 How to celebrate Tortilla Chip Day: Right down to the salty crumbs in the bottom of the bag.
CHIP IN
25 Amendment 16 to the U.S. Constitution authorizes the federal income tax, 1913.
TICKS IN THE SADDLE
26 “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s saddle-sore birthday, 1846. National Time Management Month - because time goes by like a buffalo stampede.
EGO A GO GO
27 International Boost Self-Esteem Month, International Expect Success Month, and success with reasonable expectations:
A parking spot in front of the door: Success!
A day’s mail that turns out to be all junk, no bills: Good as it gets!
A February with no winter storm that sneaks in: Triumph!
SHORT STUFF
28 Last Day of February.
GONE SOUTH
“Crossroads of Memory: Carroll Cloar and the American South” through June 1 at the Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock.
Details at arkarts.com. Call (501) 372-4000.
Mardi Gras in Arkansas, 8 p.m. at Next Level Events, Little Rock, benefits Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Arkansas. Call (501) 666-8816.
GRAB A BITE
Tooth Fairy Day.
What does the tooth fairy
Do with my teeth?
String them to make
An attractive wreath?
Keep them like buttons
That fill up a jar?
Here’s why I wonder
Where all my teeth are: Nickles, I’ve got;
Dimes, I don’t lack;
Tooth Fairy, won’t you please Sell my teeth back?
LONG AND SHORT OF IT 29 Watch this space. February’s next leap day will be in 2016, a calendar correction that will make the still-shortest month 29 days long.
AUGMENTATION
30 February had 30 days during leap years in Roman times. But rumor has it that the Roman Senate, to honor Emperor Caesar Augustus, stole a day off February to add to the month named for him, August.
LONG TIME NEVER SEEN
31 February never did have 31 days. This cold, gray month only seems to last longer than the almond nougat the dog licked in a heart-shaped box of chocolates.
DEJA PHOO
32 If the groundhog sees his shadow on Feb. 32, it means six more weeks of the exact same thing as the last six weeks. Coming next month: March! Call (501) 399-3633, write to Ron
Wolfe, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 121 E. Capitol Ave., Little
Rock, Ark. 72203, or email rwolfe@arkansasonline.com by Feb. 15 to suggest March calendar entries or how to celebrate March as National Caffeine Awareness Month: with eyes wide open. Each event requires a phone number that is answered during business hours or by an answering machine that identifies the event or its sponsor.
Style, Pages 27 on 01/28/2014