August is the month of dog days -- those hottest days of summer when poached pooches pooh out under the porch. Luckily, August also comes with a cooler full of watermelons, a guitar case full of songs, a heart full of love, and a bottle of mustard.
1 Herman Melville's birthday, 1819; Spider-Man's 53rd birthday. With great whales comes great responsibility.
THE SPLOT HEARD 'ROUND THE WORLD
National Mustard Day -- and what to call it when you squeeze the bottle for a big splurt of mustard, and all you get is that rubber ducky-colored dribble: Grey Bloop-on.
Family day of Victorian optical illusions with magician Chuck Larson, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at The Clayton House, Fort Smith. Details at claytonhouse.org. Call (479) 783-3000.
BOW-WOW AND HOW
Dog Day of Summer dog parade and contests, 9-11 a.m. downtown Siloam Springs. Details at mainstreetsiloam.com. Call (479) 524-4556.
GREENER ON THE OUTRE SIDE
Shrek: The Musical, Rogers Little Theater show through Aug. 9 at the Victory Theater, Rogers. Details at rogerslittletheater.org. Call (479) 631-8988.
PUTTIN' ON THE SPRITZ
Hairspray musical through Aug. 29 at Murry's Dinner Playhouse, Little Rock. Details at murrysdp.com. Call (501) 562-3131.
COLD FUSION
2 How to celebrate Ice Cream Sandwich Day: Hold the mayo.
SIBLING REVELRY
3 How to celebrate Sisters Day: sis-tematically.
HAP-HAP-HOORAY
4 Happiness Happens Month. In August in Arkansas, happiness happens every time the air conditioning comes on.
POP-POP-POPPY
The flower for August is the poppy, a red flower of special meaning -- namely: (A) remembrance of soldiers; (B) sleep, as when Dorothy and her friends fall asleep in the poppy field on the way to Oz; (C) poppy oil, sometimes a cake ingredient; or (D) Poppy, a popular name for girls in England, Scotland and Australia.
Answer at Aug. 24.
TOLL HOUSE COOKIES AT THE TAX MAN'S DESK
5 Uncle Sam -- if nobody else -- celebrates the 154th birthday of the federal income tax.
PANELS DISCUSSION
Talk by comics historian and author Michael Barrier about Funnybooks: The Improbable Glories of the Best American Comic Books, 6:30 p.m. at the North Little Rock History Commission, downtown North Little Rock. Call (501) 371-0755.
SEED THE SIGHTS
6 Hope Watermelon Festival through Aug. 8 at Fair Park, Hope. Details at hopemelonfest.com. Call (870) 777-3640.
THUMPITY-THUMP-THUMP
Cave City Watermelon Festival through Aug. 8 at City Park, Cave City. Details at cavecityarkansas.info. Call (870) 307-9631.
BARGAIN HOPPING
7 Yards and Yards of Yard Sales through Aug. 8, Eureka Springs. Details at eurekaspringschamber.com. Call (479) 253-8737.
RETURN OF SENDER
8 Elvis Week of Elvis tributes, movies, fan clubs and karaoke, through Aug. 16 at venues including Graceland in Memphis. Details at graceland.com. Call (901) 332-3322.
Amp Out Alz music and silent auction with Big Johnson's 2.0, 7 p.m. at The Rev Room, Little Rock, benefits Alzheimer's Arkansas. Details at ampoutalz.com. Call (501) 920-7729.
NIXON NIXES
9 Richard Nixon resigns as president of the United States, 1974.
"You must pursue this investigation of Watergate even if it leads to the president." -- Richard Nixon
GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY
10 Missouri Admission Day, 1821. Missouri admits to standing on the shoulders of Arkansas.
BLANKET INVITATION
11 How to celebrate Picnic Month: with the whole family -- cousins, uncles and ants.
IN THE GROOVE
12 Vinyl Record Day, and things vinyl music can do that digital can't:
• Vinyl records fill up shelves that otherwise might accumulate clutter.
• Vinyl records come in album covers that double as clever places to hide money and important papers. The trick is to remember what's stashed where, such as: Johnny Cash has the cash, Sarah Vaughan has the bonds, Lou Reed keeps the deed, Vince Gill has the will.
• A vinyl record can be melted into the shape of a bowl -- a great place to keep dead iPods, earbuds with tangled cords and $50 cellphone cases that don't fit the new phone.
SHAKY PROPOSITION
13 Left-Handers Day, and famous southpaws:
• Barack Obama, Bill Clinton.
• Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Keanu Reeves.
• Kermit the Frog, famous left-handed banjo player.
WHEELS OF FORTUNE
Bargains Galore on 64 through Aug. 15, 160 miles of yard sales along U.S. 64 from Fort Smith east to Beebe. Details at bargainsgaloreon64.org. Call (479) 667-4455.
PLUNK ROCK
Eureka Springs Bluegrass Festival through Aug. 15, with Mary Parker and Clancey Ferguson at The Auditorium and free music at Basin Spring Park downtown. Details at eurekasprings.org. Call (479) 253-7333.
WHIFF OF FAME
14 "Casey at the Bat" rhymer Ernest Lawrence Thayer's birthday, 1863.
Oh, somewhere in the melon patch,
The sun is shining still,
And folks are out there spittin' seeds,
Like fine folks always will;
But Casey's not among them,
Casey's nowhere to be seen:
He thumped just like an expert,
But he went and picked one green.
PEACE, LOVE, MUD
15 Folksy little Woodstock Festival opens, 1969.
FILET FETE
16 How to celebrate Catfish Month: Win by a whisker.
MEMBER OF THE B'AR
17 Davy Crockett's birthday, 1786. The frontiersman claimed to be "half horse, half alligator" and "a little touched by the snapping turtle," and yet never ran for president.
LEGACY: THE NOUN OF RENOWN
18 What Will Be Your Legacy Month, and how ordinary people's legacies are different than a president's:
• Presidential legacy: Jefferson's heap of land, the Louisiana Purchase.
Ordinary legacy: heap of bug-infested Reader's Digest condensed books in the basement.
• Presidential: Reagan's years of prosperity.
• Ordinary: loose change in the sofa.
• Presidential: Obama's health care plan.
Ordinary: 10-year-old pills in the back of the medicine cabinet, saved just in case.
CLOUD SOARAGE
19 How to celebrate National Aviation Day: propped up.
RING, RING, RING -- WHO'S THERE?
20 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus show, Built to Amaze, with clown Davis Vassallo, through Aug. 23 at Verizon Arena, North Little Rock. Details at verizonarena.com. Call (800) 745-3000.
POI BOY MAKES GOOD
21 Hawaii Admission Day, 1959. Hawaii admits to confusion. If a hula dancer drops her lei, does the lei lay there, or does the lei lie there?
MOLAR CONTROLLER
22 Tooth Fairy Day, and what to buy with money the Tooth Fairy leaves: gap coverage.
POOL 'CUE
Forrest Wood Cup bass fishing and barbecue competitions through Aug. 23, Hot Springs and Lake Ouachita. Details at flwfishing.com. Call (800) 772-2489.
HOLSTER POLLSTERS
Showdown at Sunset gunfight re-enactment of El Dorado's Tucker-Parnell feud, also music and wagon rides, 6 p.m. on the courthouse square, El Dorado. Details at mainstreeteldorado.org. Call (870) 862-4747.
CLEAN SWEEP
23 VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): Is today your birthday? If so, you share this spic-and-span celebration with fellow nit-picky picker-uppers Kobe Bryant (36), Aug. 23; Sean Connery (84), Aug. 25; and Cameron Diaz (42), Aug. 30.
MOUNTAIN SPEW
24 Vesuvius Day remembers when the Italian volcano erupted and buried the ancient city of Pompeii -- on a Monday, the day that buries everybody.
POP QUIZ
Poppy new year quiz answer: All the above, a hot month's work for a busy flower.
STEALING GREEN
25 Traffic Awareness Month.
Street closed and detour,
And roadwork ahead;
Bridge closed and potholes,
And signal turned red;
Left-turners, lane-changers,
Speeders and yike! --
All this to come
For the kid on his trike.
PUP, PUP AND AWAY
26 Every dog has his day, and this is it: National Dog Day.
STRUM THING'S HAPPENIN' HERE
27 Fayetteville Roots Festival through Aug. 30 with Punch Brothers and Watkins Family Hour at venues including George's Majestic Bar, Maxine's Taproom and the Fayetteville Public Library. Details at fayettevilleroots.com.
WHY ON EARTH HOLD A GRUDGE
Global Forgiveness Day.
KISS IS STILL A KISS
28 Romance Awareness Month: like Traffic Awareness Month, only the gridlocks are more fun.
TRAIN OF RECOLLECTION
Frisco Festival through Aug. 29, downtown Rogers. Details at mainstreetrogers.com. Call (479) 936-5487.
IN THE GROOVY
Happy Together Tour with The Association, Mark Lindsay, The Grass Roots, The Buckinghams and The Cowsills at Oaklawn racing park, Hot Springs. Details at oaklawn.com. Call (501) 623-4411.
WHO'S WHO OF WHOOM!
29 River City Comic Expo, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Statehouse Convention Center, Little Rock, with artists including Michael Golden and Bob McLeod and Magic: The Gathering tournament. Details at rivercitycomicexpo.com.
HOW MUCH CHUCK WOULD
A CHUCK WAGON CHUCK?
29 National Championship Chuckwagon Races through Sept. 6 at the Eoff ranch, Clinton. Activities including trail rides and chuck wagon cook-off start Aug. 29. Chuck wagon races are Sept. 4-6. Entertainers include Susie McEntire, Sawyer Brown. Details at chuckwagonraces.com. Call (501) 745-8407.
MONSTER BASH
30 Frankenstein author Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's birthday, 1797.
"Make me happy." -- Frankenstein's monster
GOOD VIBRATIONS
Little Big Town: Pain Killer Tour, 7:30 p.m. at First Security Amphitheater, Little Rock. Details at ticketmaster.com. Call (800) 745-3000.
ROOM FIT FOR A QUEEN
31 Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands' birthday, 1880. Arkansas' Queen Wilhelmina State Park near Mena is named for the royal celebrant, even though she never camped there.
Coming next month: September! 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 Aug. 15 to suggest September calendar entries or how to celebrate September as Fall Hat Month, such as: Blow the lid off. 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 07/28/2015