February is the month for romancers and rodents. Cupid twangs his bow, the love bug bites, and the groundhog looks for his shadow. True love and sunshine can be hard to find these lonesome and gloomy days, but other things are in plentiful supply: bubble gum, grapefruit, umbrellas, pancakes, dog biscuits and marathon runners.
1 Super Bowl XLIX Sunday. Beer, cheese dip, beer, pretzels, beer, cheese puffs, beer, pizza, beer, Katy Perry, cheerleaders, Roman numerals nobody can figure out -- and a game of some sort at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona.
DRAWN-OUT COMPETITION
"Pigskin Peanuts" and "Heartbreak in Peanuts" exhibits feature reproductions of the late Charles Schulz's comic strips related to touchdowns and romantic fumbles, through April 5 at the Clinton Presidential Center, Little Rock. Details at clintonfoundation.org. Call (501) 374-4242.
BAZOOKA JOE ON THE GO
Bubble Gum Day.
Who blew the chew?
The crew, the crew --
They gummed the gob,
And blew the chew
A puff too much;
It went --
KA-BLOO!
And goo'ed the crew
That blew the chew.
National Black History Month.
RODENT RADAR
2 Groundhog Day. Rather than have to get out of bed and chuck wood, the weather-watching marmot turns in a false report of more winter.
WEATHER RETORT
3 Beat the Heat Month -- no problem in February, better known as Beat the Heating Bill Month.
STEALS ON WHEELS
4 Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month -- especially the one with the squeaky wobbles. Grocery carts are handy things on wheels that people remove from the store with nobody watching. What could go wrong?
STORM PUNT
5 Weatherman's Day parade canceled because of rain that nobody saw coming.
DOUBLE DRIBBLE
Harlem Globetrotters, 7 p.m. at Verizon Arena, North Little Rock. Details at verizonarena.com. Call (800) 745-3000.
GAMES OF THRONES
6 Furniture namesake Queen Anne of England's birthday, 1665.
Elvis Lives tribute to The King, 8 p.m. at Walton Arts Center, Fayetteville. Details at waltonartscenter.org. Call (479) 443-5600.
QUILL HE, OR QUON'T HE?
7 Charles Dickens' birthday, 1812.
"Regrets are the natural property of gray hairs." -- Charles Dickens.
THIS SUDS FOR YOU
Old-fashioned soap-making workshop, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at Plantation Agriculture Museum, Scott. Call (501) 961-1409 to register by Feb. 2.
WHAT A SWALLOW SWALLOWS
8 How to celebrate National Bird-Feeding Month: Give a stork a spork, a cassowary a casserole, a blue jay a snack tray.
SQUIRT: A CURT SPURT
9 How to celebrate National Grapefruit Month: with an umbrella.
DOUBLE DRIZZLE
10 Umbrella Day -- sure to rain because nobody thought to bring an umbrella. In France, they forget their parasols. In England, they leave home without their brollies and bumbershoots. In Germany, they wish somebody had thought to carry an uber-ella. The Campbell's Soup Kids neglect their umm!-umm!-brellas. And in Fairy-tale Land, the princess dances off without her Cinder-brella.
FORECAST: BRAINSTORMS AND MIDDAY FOG
11 Inventor Thomas Edison's birthday, 1847. He invented almost everything, including excuses for his habit of three-hour naps. Modern napping is thanks to Edison's invention of the light bulb, without which nobody would be able to say, "Lights out." And ever since his invention of the phonograph, the neighbors have been yelling, "Quiet -- people are trying to sleep."
PIT STOP
12 National Cherry Month once again poses the question:
Can she make a cherry pie, Billy boy, Billy boy?
Can she make a cherry pie, charming Billy?
No, she can't, not from scratch,
But she's still a top-rate catch,
She can nuke one
That comes out of the freezer.
SOLE MATES
13 Hikes, Hearts and Hugs Weekend through Feb. 15 at Petit Jean State Park near Morrilton. Details at petitjeanstatepark.com. Call (501) 727-5441.
PASS THE GRUYERE TO GUINEVERE
Camelot through Feb. 15 at Maumelle Performing Arts Center, Maumelle. Details at celebrityattractions.com. Call (501) 244-8800.
MERLIN'S WIZ QUIZ
Nothing cut with such a hard edge as King Arthur's sword that he called: (A) Excelsior, (B) Excalibur, (C) Executioner, or (D) His ex.
Answer at Feb. 18.
DYE HARD
Rogers Little Theater musical Legally Blonde, Feb. 15, Feb. 19-22 and Feb. 26-March 1 at the Victory Theater, Rogers. Details at rogerslittletheater.org. Call (479) 631-8988.
VICTIM RUN-THROUGH
Community Theatre of Little Rock mystery, Rehearsal for Murder, Feb. 15, 20-22 and 27-March 1 at The Studio Theatre, downtown Little Rock. Details at ctlr-act.org. Call (501) 410-2283.
ALL HEART
14 Valentine's Day.
ONE FOR THE MONEY, TUCSON FOR THE SHOW
Arizona Admission Day, 1912. Arizona admits the 3:10 to Yuma is running late, and passengers can expect to miss connections on the 3:11 to Phoenix.
ROOF-RAISING EVENT
Home Show through Feb. 15 at Verizon Arena, North Little Rock. Details at hbaglr.com. Call (501) 758-3646.
NERO FIDDLED, CAESAR STRUMMED, TIBERIUS PLAYED THE BANJO
15 Roman festival of Lupercalia.
WASHINGTON SCHLEPPED HERE
16 George Washington's birthday, the state and federal holiday and you-haul-it mattress sale. In Arkansas, it's also Daisy Gatson Bates Day.
FLAT EXPECTATIONS
17 How to celebrate Pancake Day: with a griddle bit of luck.
LAISSEZ LES BONS TEMPS ROULER
Mardi Gras. Let the good times roll. Not to be confused with, "Laissez les bons temps roller" -- Cajun for "Don't slip on the beads."
WIENER TAKES ALL
18 Expect Success Month. February may be too soon to see a daffodil, but keep an eye out for the first hot dog stand of the new year.
CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT
Any way you slice it quiz answer: (B) Excalibur -- what passed for impressive cutlery before the invention of the Swiss Army Knife.
CARP DIEM
19 PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Is today your birthday? If so, do like the three little fishies that swam over the dam. "Boop-boop dit-em dat-em what-em choo!" is fish talk for, "Better to be a big fish in a little pond than a small fish in a Buick." You share this fishy month with flippery-slippery celebrities Alice Cooper, Feb. 4; Chris Rock, Feb. 7, and Jennifer Aniston, Feb. 11.
PICKET FENCE AND RAMBLING ROSE
20 Home Show through Feb. 22 at Fort Smith Convention Center, Fort Smith. Details at fortsmithhomebuilders.com. Call (479) 452-6213.
Arkansas Flower and Garden Show through Feb. 22 at the Statehouse Convention Center, Little Rock. Details at argardenshow.org. Call (501) 821-4000.
BULL SESSION
21 Professional Bull Riders Velocity Tour, 7 p.m. at Verizon Arena, North Little Rock. Details at verizonarena.com. Call (800) 745-3000.
TRUSTY RUSTICS
Survival Skills Weekend through Feb. 22 at Pinnacle Mountain State Park near Little Rock. Details at arkansasstateparks.com. Call (501) 868-5806.
EASEL DOES IT
"Van Gogh to Rothko" exhibit, also including works by Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol and Willem de Kooning, through June 1 at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville. Details at crystalbridges.org. Call (479) 418-5700.
TRAIL MIX
22 February hikers go the way of this month's special flower, namely the: (A) Tulip Trail, (B) Lilac Lane, (C) Primrose Path, (D) Crocus Circuit, or (E) Rhododendron Road.
Answer at Feb. 26.
CRUNCH TIME
23 Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day, Library Lovers' Month, Bake for Family Fun Month. Snack for Max, food for thought, cookies for rookies.
CANINE TEETH
24 How to celebrate National Pet Dental Health Month: Look a gift horse in the mouth.
LEGGO MY EGO
25 Boost Self-Esteem Month -- time for another selfie.
Documentary screening, The Marines of Montford Point: Fighting for Freedom, about the U.S. Marine Corps' first black recruits, 6:30 p.m. at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, Little Rock. Details at arkmilitaryheritage.com. Call (501) 376-4602.
BUFFALO BILL, WON'T YOU COME OUT TONIGHT?
26 William "Buffalo Bill" Cody's birthday, 1846.
Dahlia dalliance quiz answer: (C) primrose -- but no primrose path for Buffalo Bill. The Old Scout headed west through the cockleburs.
THE REED OF CRIME BEARS BITTER TOOT
Little Rock Wind Symphony concert, Diabolical!, 7:30 p.m. at Second Presbyterian Church, Little Rock. Details at lrwindsymphony.org. Call (501) 666-0777.
1,000 FEET PER SECOND
27 Little Rock Marathon events include Health and Fitness Expo Feb. 27-28 at the Statehouse Convention Center, Little Rockers Kids' Marathon Feb. 28 and Little Rock Marathon March 1, downtown Little Rock. Details at littlerockmarathon.com. Call (501) 918-5321.
TICK TALK
How to celebrate Time Management Month: ahead in the rat race.
Hickory dickory dock,
The mouse ran up the clock;
He squeaked a streak
To here and gone,
And look! --
He won the marathon.
WING-DING
Airlifter Brass quintet from the U.S. Air Force Band of Mid-America, 7 p.m. at MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, Little Rock. Call (501) 376-4602.
LONG STORY SHORT
28 Last day of February, the year's stubbiest month, and other things best kept short:
• Short stacks, short cuts and short ribs.
• Shortstops, shortwaves, shortcakes, shorties, and most of all:
• Shortcomings.
ROOM ALTAR-ATIONS
"A Victorian Wedding" tours of Hawkins House through April 26, Rogers. Details at Rogers Historical Museum, rogersar.gov/220/Historical-Museum. Call (479) 621-1154.
CRYSTAL CLEARANCE
Arkansas Glasshoppers Depression era and vintage glass show and sale through March 1 at the Hall of Industry, State Fairgrounds, Little Rock. Call (501) 868-4969.
WATCH THIS SPACE
29 Leap Day -- wait for it, wait for it -- coming in February 2016. Good news: Next year's second month will be a day longer. Bad news: Feb. 29, 2016, will be an extra Monday.
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, namely: Grind, grind, grind. 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 on 01/27/2015